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Defeat at the hands of Europe!

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Category: Dinghy classes
Forum Name: Dinghy Yarns...
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Topic: Defeat at the hands of Europe!
Posted By: iGRF
Subject: Defeat at the hands of Europe!
Date Posted: 17 Feb 14 at 9:13am
Followers of the Breezy spanking thread may recall my recent humiliation at the hands of Topper Girl, well this week they flew in her sister to administer similar punishment in light wind, this time using a similar small boat with a tiny sail, called a Europe (although it looks like OK on its sail logo).

I had lined up on time almost felt sorry for the young lass who was being a pain being on the line at exactly the right spot at the right time (turned out to be her daughter)as I had to sail over her as I got clear and a great start that should have seen me at the windward mark 1st, but no.. heading out of the slightly favoured port end into a mild header, this little blue rocket ship stormed off the line, in very similar fashion to the time Dan Holman came out from under me in his Punk up at Broxbourne.

Only in a much smaller boat with a smaller sail and she banged every shift on the nose and rounded ahead, then was gone, 'I'll nail her off wind thought I', but it wasn't to be for some reason as yet still unknown,(probably kicker abuse or lack of it) I'm sailing like the proverbial slug and as the race progresses she pulls further and further away, nobody catches her, not even Rooster man.

Inspirational sailing, watching somebody that good, turns out she was second to somebody called Shirley Robinson in the Europe trials back in the day who went on to win a Gold medal, but has since had twins and no longer sails. Unfortunately she's just visiting, Karen Maine she's called, sails down at Warsash normally so not going to be much help going forward, save to indicate just how useless a single handed helm I still am and how much work there still is.

Or the other time honoured alternative for the incompetent - the cheque book and the dinghy show

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Replies:
Posted By: iGRF
Date Posted: 17 Feb 14 at 9:47am
A picture of the offender mid tack, by this time I'm now back in 4th having been over taken by the rooster and my Hythe club mate in his Laser, but neither of them caught her she was that quick



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Posted By: Punky
Date Posted: 17 Feb 14 at 9:56am
Nice boat the Europe.  We have one at Chew and it is generally about Solo speed but in a more petite package.  K253 is a pretty old one though, she must be good!


Posted By: iGRF
Date Posted: 17 Feb 14 at 10:03am

She is good, so is her daughter that pic doesn't show here style but check out the girl in the topper below, that style, absolutely exactly what I want to try and achieve it's identical to the way we sail long boards.



That's what she looked like most of the time. Head and shoulders forward leaning in the direction she's going, totally focussed... No ropes wrapped round her feet, helmet fallen over her eyes, dry suit wedged up cracks, boots not fitting into toe straps, kicker things coming undone, bent rudder arm getting in the way, cramp getting at your calf...


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Posted By: getafix
Date Posted: 17 Feb 14 at 11:00am
Ah, time on the water.....never miss-spent (or almost never in my case!).

A lot of negativity on this forum about 'squads' and the RYA's performance system, but when you see the results - someone who probably hasn't campaigned for ~10 years, kicking ar$e in an old Europe (no disrespect intended) you realise there's a lot of good being done, and passed on.

I have learnt as much from sailing with and against people in my teens in classes like Toppers, Mirrors, Lasers and 420's as I have learned in the 20+ years since.  Probably a lot more if I really thought about it.  ~8 years ago, I went to a Solo training day, at one point we did follow the leader behind the rescue boat.  Afterwards, the guy doing to training asked me about how long I'd sailed Lasers for, I asked why and he said he could tell from the way I sat in the boat and used heel to steer as much as the rudder.  Sometime after I went to Mr Rooster's talk and saw the theory explained, turns out sailing those Lasers and dealing with that awful rudder for many years gave me skills I didn't even know I had!


Posted By: laser193713
Date Posted: 17 Feb 14 at 11:05am
Leaning forward shows a lack of fitness and can cause trouble in the knees. Do not copy this! In toppers it may be necessary to keep the weight in the right place but generally it is not a good technique, at all! 


Posted By: iGRF
Date Posted: 17 Feb 14 at 11:16am
Well it looks cool and that's all that is important and all the time she not only looks cool but she's in front of me, then that's what I'm going to aspire to. You butt hanging over the side straining on the toilet style muppets can stick your technique where the sun doesn't shine, those girls do it for me..

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Posted By: Alan Gillard
Date Posted: 17 Feb 14 at 2:29pm
Topper girls style is spot on for the wind (well done her), weight forward slightly heeled, its not exactly blowing? Even though there is some breeze Toppers sail fastest at about 10 degree to upright. I suppose that she could do with a little more sheet tension just to flatten the sail at the front through bending the mast a bit more. Then put a little downhaul on just to take out the speed ripples coming off the luff. Looks to me if that is a Sails East Topper sail (replica sail), which are not quite the same as the class legal ones as its slightly heavier cloth? But then I am used to the original Hyde sails from some years back.


Posted By: getafix
Date Posted: 17 Feb 14 at 5:20pm
Originally posted by Alan Gillard

Topper girls style is spot on for the wind (well done her), weight forward slightly heeled, its not exactly blowing? Even though there is some breeze Toppers sail fastest at about 10 degree to upright. I suppose that she could do with a little more sheet tension just to flatten the sail at the front through bending the mast a bit more. Then put a little downhaul on just to take out the speed ripples coming off the luff. Looks to me if that is a Sails East Topper sail (replica sail), which are not quite the same as the class legal ones as its slightly heavier cloth? But then I am used to the original Hyde sails from some years back.

+1

... Toppers, are IMO, a great boat for youngsters, really popular at our club (and others nearby) and still fab as a boat to handle a right pounding but still deliver decent racing in a wide wind range.  Long way from the days of praddles, leaky bailers and dodgy transom sheeting....


Posted By: Do Different
Date Posted: 17 Feb 14 at 5:51pm
Hats off to you GRF for owning up to taking a lesson from the puppies.

Be it squad coaching or simply having lots of free fun hours. It goes to show the benefit of getting in the hours young, I'm sure it builds a feel that can never be taught to a mature adult.

I messed about day after day after school from about ten years old helping to exercise and school ponies at my local yard and kept it up into horses until grown up life took over. I was always puzzled quite how the adults learners never seemed to quite "get it".

Now the shoe is on the other foot and I'm a mature dinghy racer. I don't hit people, stuff it in often, come last or generally make myself a liability but I can always tell when I'm up against someone who has those valuable hours from their childhood in the bank. I am sure they wonder why I can't "get it".

   


Posted By: laser4000
Date Posted: 17 Feb 14 at 9:11pm
Originally posted by iGRF

A picture of the offender mid tack, by this time I'm now back in 4th having been over taken by the rooster and my Hythe club mate in his Laser, but neither of them caught her she was that quick


Doesn't look much like hythe - where is it?


Posted By: iGRF
Date Posted: 17 Feb 14 at 10:05pm
That is Redoubt lake, probably the single best training tool any aspiring sea sailor can have on his doorstep.

Here, many years ago, I learned to deal with fast oscillating wind shifts, wind shadows, close order board to board tactics, mark rounding, gust control, in essence everything the inland sailor takes for granted, so now I'm applying it to my woeful single hander sailboat skill set and enjoying every minute, albeit probably far too little much to late, but it's fun just the same.

As I said just last sunday, to Mike Smailes who's been a stalwart of the Redoubt S.C. for many many years longer than either of us care to remember, it's unlikely anyone can become a true sailing champion without first learning what Redoubt has to offer.

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Posted By: ifoxwell
Date Posted: 18 Feb 14 at 9:51am
You could do a lot worse than try a Europe Graham. Really sweet boats built for people like us that are normal size and very rewarding to sail.

Ian


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RS300


Posted By: iGRF
Date Posted: 18 Feb 14 at 10:04am
What are you saying Ian? People like us that sail like girls?

Wish I could sail like those Topper & Europe girls

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Posted By: blaze720
Date Posted: 18 Feb 14 at 10:07am
You can get really well sorted Europes for relative peanuts. 

Not the fastest things around but if you want properly fast you need a different sort of boat.. or hydrofoils, or more than one hull etc etc.   If you are 'right' for them they do go very nicely indeed.  Years of incremental developement within the rules made them a very very 'sweet' and refined boat to sail and if the nut on the end of the tiller is any good they can spank good and hard !

Greame - I think you would learn a great deal from a season or two in one- you are very probably just about the right sort of weight as well ... and with the bonus I'm sure you would appreciate that they have many more women in them than most other more 'crusty' macho classes !  

Why not prize open the Fuller purse and if the moths have left anything that still looks like of legal
tender get one ... Wink

Mike L.


Posted By: rogerd
Date Posted: 18 Feb 14 at 11:05am
Originally posted by iGRF

That is Redoubt lake, probably the single best training tool any aspiring sea sailor can have on his doorstep.

Here, many years ago, I learned to deal with fast oscillating wind shifts, wind shadows, close order board to board tactics, mark rounding, gust control, in essence everything the inland sailor takes for granted, so now I'm applying it to my woeful single hander sailboat skill set and enjoying every minute, albeit probably far too little much to late, but it's fun just the same.

As I said just last sunday, to Mike Smailes who's been a stalwart of the Redoubt S.C. for many many years longer than either of us care to remember, it's unlikely anyone can become a true sailing champion without first learning what Redoubt has to offer.
 
That looks like open water compared to Shearwater. Come and try our wind shifts Graham.


Posted By: iGRF
Date Posted: 18 Feb 14 at 5:00pm
I had to Google that Shearwater, can see what that would be like, having said that I've sailed worse, Wraysbury for one.

As to the Europe, you don't see them about, none on Apolloduck, tbh it was one on my list to look at, but I'm still enjoying the EPS even though it'll never deliver silverware, the sheer frustration of trying to work out why I can't make it go fast some times is an end all of it's own, honestly I'm doing worse in it now than I did when I first got it and that is now a mission, but I have at least solved one thing with my garden hose traveller system (patent applied for).


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Posted By: rogerd
Date Posted: 18 Feb 14 at 5:07pm
Ive sailed Wraysbury as well. Shearwater definitely worse. In northerly or southerly winds we have boats sailing downwind towards each other. Come and try us. I may lend you a classic boat for the cvrda event there.


Posted By: winging it
Date Posted: 18 Feb 14 at 5:11pm
Wraysbury also looks like open water right now.

I can vouch for Shearwater being very interesting.


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the same, but different...



Posted By: Steve411
Date Posted: 18 Feb 14 at 6:33pm
Originally posted by winging it

Wraysbury also looks like open water right now.


CryClapCryClap


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Steve B
RS300 411

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Posted By: DaveT
Date Posted: 18 Feb 14 at 6:36pm
Europes are one of the best balanced and responsive boats I've set foot in, if you are tiny enough for one get one


Posted By: Roger
Date Posted: 18 Feb 14 at 8:17pm
Originally posted by winging it

Wraysbury also looks like open water right now.

I can vouch for Shearwater being very interesting.


I agree.....
Its been decades since I last went to Shearwater but the memories still remain, certainly very interesting.

and we've probably got the largest stretch of inland water in the UK right now, here in Somerset.




Posted By: Cameron Winton
Date Posted: 18 Feb 14 at 8:25pm
Would love a Europe (5' 6" tall) but everything at our club is a laser or RS300


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