There's a great article from the 1996 September/October issue of Wooden Boat magazine and they recite a quote from Olin Stephens from 1928 as follows: "In any design, the most important factors of speed seem to be long sailing lines and large sail area, with moderate displacement and small wetted surface. Then comes beauty, by which is meant clean, fair, pleasing lines. Though per se beauty is not a factor of speed, the easiest boats to look at seem the easiest to drive".