As someone who was a racing dingy sailor in his youth, the answer is a gob smacklying lot of improvements have occurred in my lifetime, mostly this century. Ha

As someone who was a racing dingy sailor in his youth, the answer is a gob smacklying lot of improvements have occurred in my lifetime, mostly this century. Have a look at the America's cup races. Eg: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y325JWyRslE https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y325JWyRslE The first thing that hits you is the hull isn't in the water. The next thing is the sail boats in a modest breeze are giving the powered boats a run for their money speed wise. One thing that is not so obvious is the sails are now more aerofoils. Back in the day, boats that had no hulls were a mad mans dream. Now we call them kite surfers. Some exotic ones have keel hanging from a bit of rope.