Cruiser Displacement and Sail Area

[Don Lucas]

When looking at 2 different boats of same length; what is the sailing performance difference for "normal" conditions (not real light air like 5 knots) between the boats with different displacement, but same displacement/sail area? Say for the 2 boats below:

Boat 1
displacement - 30,000
DLR - 320
displacement/sail area - 17.5

Boat 2
displacement - 25,000
DLR - 250
displacement/sail area - 17.5

Both have the same power ratio for their displacement so would seem to me to have same sailing performance in general. Given the heavier boat is going to be more comfortable and I think may be faster at higher wind because it may standup better at the higher wind before having to reef.

If you have any real ratios etc from your experience to go along with your answer that would be nice.

Thanks