V Twin

 

Or.. you could sail with a pair of flippers on to make you swim faster

It tacks really well, got back in the Alto yesterday and now can't wait to get out of it. The only thing I don't like the look of is the lee side bow wash, but that's me nit picking, it gybes as sweetly as it tacks, even with the kite up. The kite goes up and down better than anything I've ever experienced, point taken about the Vortex, the mast is an RS700 mast, I'm wondering if it's a bit soft for that Vortex main.

 I plan to make what I can best describe as an Air batten sail, like a kite surfing kite, so the leading edge will have an air bladder, maybe with split batten either side of the mast maybe not, it might be too complex, but definitely air bag battens, anyone familiar with our Slingshot kites and their split strut construction, so the air bags get their air off the main leading edge bladder, a single point inflation system, blow it up to about 8-9 psi they get quite rigid, I've got all the necessary bits to do it at work. I shall probably have conventional battens on the trailing edge, so the sail will be semi soft but the foil should be quite defined yet tuneable. This will fulfill two things, one the sail will be lighter and two, no way will it sink. I'd also thought about messing with the leading edge of the jib in the same way, but conventional wisdom (Jamie) has warned me off messing with the jib. The only thing that's not been done before, is air battens that tack, kites tend to stay on the same tack, so some R&D work will need to be done over the winter.

I don't envision it being anything like as fast on our water and I certainly don't expect it will plane up wind, that's only the second time I've ever truly planed upwind in a dinghy ever, unless it's offshore wind and the sea flattens out, which is why it's also going to be important to me to sail it high on one hull and the racks don't dig in to lee side waves.

One quick point, when you say the Vortex main is not 'optimised' for a jib, what should I be doing to that end, they 'mains with jibs' always seem prone to backing which I don't actually like, I appreciate the airflow gets detached and rejoins further down the rear of the main, but other than making the main keep it's shape what more should I be looking for?

Woo hoo that was me in the Video. It was unusually sudden - or maybe my reactions are shot and I need a V twin?

Graeme - as you know, I've been following this on facebook, but here are some more thoughts.

Well done again for putting your money and time into this.