Most importantly, you need to define what you mean by "efficient". As well as how well you want a specific
boat to perform on varioous points of sail, over a given range of conditions.
Basically drawing up a "must have" set of performance polars. And then with this, sit down with a boat's
designer, & see if such is even possible, given; the
hull designs, rig design, structural strength built in, loads, weight & drag (water & wind).
Though unless you start a boat's design from a blank sheet of paper, it'll be pretty impossible to meet all of these goals. As everything which goes into a boat's design is interconnected, as well as being a series of compromises.
Your best bet is likely to get a set of polars from various boats in this size range, including what sails they were generated with. Ditto on how heavily they were theoretically loaded when the polars were calculated. And then compare them/use them as rough guides as to what'll likely
work in terms of sail combinations on the boat(s) which you're considering.
If you have such information, & hire a good,
performance sailmaker, then he can help you to draw up a recommended sail inventory, so that you get the best performance out of the boat on all points of sail. And, he should provide you with several variations on this, pointing out the pros & cons of each inventory.
Or as the lingo goes, you want to make sure that there aren't any "holes" in your inventory. Meaning that you don't have any points of sail, or
wind ranges where you don't have sails to keep you moving well.
Multihull, or mono it doesn't matter, the
concept is the same. And a very good example of a sail chart showing what sails their boat uses in order to perform & handle best on varying points of sail, &
wind strengths, is shown by Beth Leonard & Evans Starzinger here
Sail Combinations
Also, sometimes you'll see similar information presented in graph format, especially if you go to a sailmaker's website, like say, North. As well as when you study the Polars for a boat.
And even when presented with this information, there are always more options. Such as "simple" modifications to one's rig. Meaning those which don't change any of it's base components or loadings.
But things like the following can be added; Solent Stays,
Cutter Stays, 2nd Headstays (often made of
Dyneema, & being detachable), Code 0's, Sprits - for bigger; jibs, & downwind sails... etc., etc.
It's dated, but
http://www.amazon.com/Art-Science-Sa...68AD8P98Z1A8R1
is a decent reference for the basics.
Materials & design have changed, ditto on platforms, but the "what" of what you want sails to do hasn't. Meaning, covering what points o sails, & what wind ranges. It's the ref. that I grew up with - a signed gift, courtesy of my bro.
- Ask your
sailmaker if he has a recommended reference. Also, do some reading on all of the topics I hit on above, but from a racer's perspective/websites. As they have much more detailed information on the subjects, & it'll help to "school" you better on your queries.
http://forums.sailinganarchy.com/ is a decent spot to start, as are many of the stories & links from the
forums home site,
www.SailingAnarchy.com
PS: If you want more "high speed" (detailed, & technical)
references, LMK. And keep in mind, that despite all of the hype, the bottom line is, the basics really don't/haven't changed much. Except perhaps in scale & cost.