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Adopted classes - is it a rubbish idea? |
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moomin
Groupie Joined: 19 Jan 05 Online Status: Offline Posts: 60 |
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Topic: Adopted classes - is it a rubbish idea? Posted: 03 Feb 05 at 3:53pm |
I can speak from recent experience on this, moved to a new area in the last year and joined the club I felt was fitted my needs best, active membership good racing facitities people etc. I took my europe with me and sailed in the handcap fleet successfully, partially due the great handicap onthe europe I'm sure, however the draw of the biggest fleet on the water was too much,RS400, I' not the ideal weight for it by a good few stone and I've definitely dropped down the rankings, however the close racing in the fleet, the extra thinking required when not just sailing against the clock has been a good challenge. There was no pressure required from the club and I'm sure I'm not the only one who has just decided that close racing is what I need and to get that I need to sail in the fleet. By the way the other fleet option was a solo but not owning a bus pass or hearing aid i didn't qualify for the fleet.
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Moomin
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Matt Jackson
Really should get out more Joined: 21 Sep 04 Location: Darlington Online Status: Offline Posts: 962 |
Post Options Quote Reply Posted: 03 Feb 05 at 4:51pm |
All interesting stuff and valid arguments that I agree with broadly (grumble, grumble), What about this situation tho? You are a newbie, there is a nice club on your doorstep with no restrictions in terms of membership size, water size and anything else but you can only sail 49er, RS800 or Musto Skiff because the club is trying to promote high performance sailing? The next nearest club is over an hours drive away. It'd be a bit daft eh? |
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Laser 203001, Harrier (H+) 36
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Blobby
Really should get out more Joined: 07 May 04 Location: Australia Online Status: Offline Posts: 779 |
Post Options Quote Reply Posted: 04 Feb 05 at 8:48am |
My also limited experience... CLub 1 - Bewl Valley - fleet starts for Wayfarers, flying fifteens, lasers and optimists IIRC, but good strong fast and slow handicap fleets. Within the handicap fleets, classes with more than 8 boats get fleet prizes & results. Seems OK to me. CLub 2 - Rye Harbour - very small club, no two baots the same, not even sure if it still exists! Club 3 - PDYC - club fleet of Laser II's, Lasers and optimists. great racing, great atmosphere Club 4 - Changi SC - Taipans and Optimists. Taipans growing, but dinghy sailing is virtually non-existant. Bewl Valley is definitely the most successful model as they make provision for all and special provision for the most numerous. The other clubs are small, but PDYC worked well with limited choice because these classes were accessible. Racing at Changi suffers because the Taipans are just too damn expensive for too many people even if they are fantastic cats. To sum it up, if the venue is limited, then restricting classes to those that are accessible and suit the venue can be great. BUT using a SMOD other than a Laser is risky because the classes do die eventually. Personally I think classes like N12's & Merlins are great for this because the development means the front of the fleet are upgrading so there is a supply of good second hand boats. If you were Matt's perfect club - I believe you would be pretty short sighted to restrict yourself to 49er, RS800 and Musto Skiff with no feeder classes. |
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moomin
Groupie Joined: 19 Jan 05 Online Status: Offline Posts: 60 |
Post Options Quote Reply Posted: 04 Feb 05 at 8:50am |
The club does have some restrictions on the boats you can sail, but that is due to an old safety issue on an inland water they don't allow cats. The club seems to have the right balance, if you find a boat you are the right size for and enjoy sailing, then you can sail that either free sailing or in the handicap fleet, however if it is fleet racing you are after then there are two choices but nobodies saying you must sail on of these. The 400 suits the water, it's big enough and has the power to be exciting, and scare the occaisional solo when flying downwind, being inland though the wind is not as constant as it is on the sea adn trapeze boats tend to struggle. There are a few who try, and provide the rest of us with entertainment. The bottom line is I guess I've been lucky to find a club nearby which suits the sailing I like to do, and I can still get the europe out now and again if I fancy annoying the laser sailors.
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Moomin
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Blobby
Really should get out more Joined: 07 May 04 Location: Australia Online Status: Offline Posts: 779 |
Post Options Quote Reply Posted: 04 Feb 05 at 8:59am |
Just noticed this is what Weir Wood are debating at the moment... |
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Stefan Lloyd
Really should get out more Joined: 03 Aug 04 Online Status: Offline Posts: 1599 |
Post Options Quote Reply Posted: 04 Feb 05 at 10:09am |
Actually they seem to be debating recommended classes, which is not the same thing. This thread is about only allowing specific classes to race. Edited by Stefan Lloyd |
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ChrisJ
Far too distracted from work Joined: 07 May 04 Location: United Kingdom Online Status: Offline Posts: 337 |
Post Options Quote Reply Posted: 04 Feb 05 at 1:59pm |
Hardly "debating at the moment". It is dated 2001. But the information on the classes is well presented and thought through, and it does seem to give a good range of different boats that are suited to the water. Does anyone know the effect 4 years later?? Edited by ChrisJ |
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Pierre
Really should get out more Joined: 15 Mar 04 Location: United Kingdom Online Status: Offline Posts: 1532 |
Post Options Quote Reply Posted: 04 Feb 05 at 2:18pm |
As a member of Weir Wood, I can say that there are a considerable number of Laser 2000's (about 21 ish), probably 14i (ish) 200's. 8 or 9 Fireballs, about the same number of 400's. A few of the Enterprise sailors have moved over to Laser 2000's but still a fair turnout of Ents. Alot of Lasers, and half a dozen 600s. 3000's are regularly out in high winds mainly sailed by youths. Quite a few Solos. Big Oppie fleet. There is also a wide spread of other classes. Oh, nearly forgot, 6 x 2.4meter and probably the same number of ff15's Sunday morning racing is Fast Handicap, Laser Fleet, Slow Handicap. Even in the direst winter sailing conditions there will be about 40 boats out on a Sunday morning. All good fun and friendly but competative stuff, and the recommended classes suit the water. (However I don't sail one of them). Hope this helps. Pop down and see us sometime. Edited by Pierre |
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redback
Really should get out more Joined: 16 Mar 04 Location: Tunbridge Wells Online Status: Offline Posts: 1502 |
Post Options Quote Reply Posted: 04 Feb 05 at 5:49pm |
I'm very impressed with Weir Wood getting 40 boats out during the winter. Here at Bough Beech (only about 10 miles away) we were congratulating ourselves for getting 42 the weekend before last. We don't really have any fleets - you might like to read my article on the website about recommended boats. |
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Pierre
Really should get out more Joined: 15 Mar 04 Location: United Kingdom Online Status: Offline Posts: 1532 |
Post Options Quote Reply Posted: 04 Feb 05 at 6:30pm |
Hi Redback. We don't do badly as far as I can see. Mind you, one guy was saying that back in the early 90's he'd regularly see 70 boats out on a Sunday morning. . Bit of a "when I was a lad" type thing. I'd already seen your article on the site. ('cause I'm a nosey b****r). We actually have hundreds of boats in the boat park. All flavours catered for so long as they are used and paid for.
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