The last big test for "Willy" is also the most exciting: How does the boat sail after all the modifications and changes? It has become much more modern, both optically and technically, but is it also faster? After all, that was one of the declared goals of the refit. Although it was always clear: If the shape of the trunk and attachments are unchanged, you don't turn a plow horse into a racehorse, regardless of what you feed it with.
In the case of “Willy”, the “food” was mainly changes to the rig. Relocating the genoa pick-up points inwards, equipping them with a traveler and a main sail that has been enlarged by 3.2 square meters and exhibited at the top should bring advantages on the close-hauled course, especially when there is little wind. The same applied to raumschots for the 50 square meter gennaker instead of the old original spinnaker, which had an area of 33 square meters.
But what does more speed mean? There was only one way to find out: comparison with a Dehly25 that was as true to the original as possible. This was sailed on the Baltic Sea off Warnemünde.