Copyright © Billy Black

His imaginative dedication changed
sailing forever

Arvel had a plentiful professional career that included involvement in aerodynamics research with the best aerodynamics groups in the whole world, like NASA, Lockheed, Douglas, McDonnell Douglas and Boeing. His name rose to sailing-fame on the early 1970s when he published many sail-aerodynamic articles aimed at the average sailor, and he changed sailing for ever. His approach to sailing from a scientific point of view started a process whose outcomes we see now everywhere, both in the aero- and hydrodynamic fields of sailing. The world of sailing owes much to Mr. Gentry.

— KLZsailing

Gentry contributed to many magazines, wrote
books, and presented professional papers

So you think that you know how sails work: the slot effect, backwinding, stalling, and all that stuff. You’ve learned these “facts” of sailing from books and from magazine articles by the experts. Well, read on. You are in for a few surprises. So you think that you know how sails work: the slot effect, backwinding, stalling, and all that stuff. You’ve learned these “facts” of sailing from books and from magazine articles by the experts. Well, read on. You are in for a few surprises.

Arvel Gentry articles from sailing magazines
These cards are either online links or PDF files for download.
Design by signify: design. copyright © Nicky McCatty