Does peddling increase sailing speed?

I managed to get out today and was experimenting with the Mirage drive. I believe pedalling it make a substantial difference. It was quite gusty today with choppy water. I have invested in a Velocitek speed puck http://www.velocitek.com/products/speedpuck which has proven to be very useful. I was averaging around 6 knots today with a recorded max of 8 Knots. It was too rough to get any real speed up and kept burying the bow and Amas into waves that constantly knocked a lot of speed off. I found I could point probably 10 degrees higher if I peddled.
I experimented with the dagger board up and the Mirage blades down. I found it didn't point as well as the dagger board and also lost speed, presumably due to drag. As I see it, unless you have them both exactly in alignment, the front blade will cause turbulence that is then stirred up further by the rear blade. Also the blades do not sit flat so they will twist wherever they feel like going. They do offer lateral resistance but at the expense of speed. I found it faster with the blades separated and flat against the hull, although I am interested in trying them hanging down at 45 degrees or so and see if that makes any difference. I also tried the dagger board and the Mirage fins down whilst trying to point in quite strong winds, I believe it helped a bit with lateral slippage, but I still couldn't point anywhere near as high as a standard monohull. The rudder was constantly being overpowered in strong gusts whilst going upwind.
I believe we will see a few more down here next season, it is attracting a lot of attention.
My next move will be some tramps. I can't use the full width setup as I often need to quickly fend it off mudbanks with the paddle when the wind blows it sideways onto the mud when I am trying to take pictures of the seals I am helping to monitor. The channel isn't wide enough to anchor easily. I think Pirates design looks the best bet for what I need and the spray skirt at the front will also be very useful. Are you going to have any for sale Pirate?

Assisted

When going upwind in all but light wind, it will point better with both the daggerboard and the fins down.

Downwind, except for in heavy wind or larger waves, both out or up is best for speed.

I am not in the game Aledal but have been working on mine and now believe they are now real winners. When I have finished road testing them, my upholstery guy who put them together is happy to knock some out, so I will let you know when that happens.

Pirate, do you have fibreglass reinforcing rods like the Hobie tramps?

I assumed they were front and rear Mickey. I don't have a pair so I'm not sure. Perhaps someone who has them can answer that.

They are along the rear of the tramps where the straps are. It's a single fibreglass rod spaning the width of the tramp.
The front is supported by looping over the forward aka.

Pirate, do you have fibreglass reinforcing rods like the Hobie tramps?

My next move will be some tramps. I can't use the full width setup as I often need to quickly fend it off mudbanks with the paddle when the wind blows it sideways onto the mud when I am trying to take pictures of the seals I am helping to monitor. The channel isn't wide enough to anchor easily. I think Pirates design looks the best bet for what I need and the spray skirt at the front will also be very useful. Are you going to have any for sale Pirate?

I am not in the game Aledal but have been working on mine and now believe they are now real winners. When I have finished road testing them, my upholstery guy who put them together is happy to knock some out, so I will let you know when that happens. Unfortunately is just too gusty today to go sailing without expecting gear breakage. Here is the current conditions here. Warm winters day but strong northerlies with the expectation of a strong southerly change shortly.
16/02:00pm 22.7 15.6 10.8 47 6.6 NNW 39 61 21 33 998.0 - 0.0
16/01:57pm 22.5 15.2 10.3 46 6.7 NNW 39 61 21 33 998.1 - 0.0 .....Pirate

Bluemark, the Mirage drive can't direct the side force forward, because it is acting at 90º, but it does direct the resultant force forward and as the vector triangle shows, the greater the force (BA) from the drive, the more the resultant force (CA) approaches straight ahead.

I am aware that the result of peddling a mirage drive is a forward force 90º from the side force, but a mirage drive most definitely DOES convert a side force into a forward force - that is how they work - moving back and forth from side to side to move you forward 90º from the direction they are moving. Now where my 25 year old memory loss of dynamics fails me is in figuring out just what happens when a side force is applied to the laterally moving mirage fins.

The side side force (wind) makes the whole boat move sideways in the water, resulting in a vector force from the water directly opposite the wind. Keels and daggerboards are surfaces that allow that opposite vector from the water better oppose the side vector force from the wind. A moving mirage fin adds to that opposing force by moving into it, thus increasing the anti wind side force. The opposite fin is moving with the side force, so it has reduced opposing side force... Now those forces should even out to be same as a single stationary fin pointing straight down like a daggerboard - but it isn't, it also moving you forward. And darn it, it is simply fact that a moving mirage drive lets me sail much closer to the wind than having both fins pointing straight down like two extra dagger boards.

Something very cool is happening in the dynamics of moving mirage fins, side forces, and wind.