V Twin

Originally posted by Rockhopper Why should he take it anywhere we all know where he is and he has offered anyone a go who wants to so why not go to him and try who knows you might like it or your might not so stop running it down tilll you try it !

it's ponderous like a Blaze ..

?? How on earth were you tacking your Blaze then - all you needed to do is keep your weight forward in each tack and make sure tha rig rake was set up within the guidelines.  Do it wrong and you will be s-l-o-w for sure but the idea is and always was  to keep the stern 'UP' with this sort of hull ...  I'd have thought with your weight this would have been a doddle.  Some people seem to have the rake all wrong which can slow up tacking as the overall balance is all wrong - can you recall what the settings were ?. 

Incidentally I cut a fully retracting c'board into one of the first Tornado hulls to get to the UK (board that is) to great advantage around the same time or very slightly later as you were hacking the TC39 ... coincidentally that was the first board I defected to from dinghies !  (I think about £ 200 all in and brand new !) I also had a Turbo ... but it was not going to last long with the rate of development at the time and its durability proved a bit 'iffy'   ..... old history now.

btw I don't think you will ever get the vortex rig going that well - too small, too flat and far far too heavy and unresponsive and 'draggy' .  Should have gone with a slimline 'nice and simple' Blaze or Halo rig ... and preferably in carbon ;-) 

Mike L.

Hey Graeme - As I said I hope it does something really well and so leads a big advance of some sort. The retracting centreboard on a windsurfer must rank as the biggest advance I've personally ever experienced - transforming the near impossible task of getting downwind on a  big board into a joy.
Masttracks were another. Lets hope we have a similar revelation to celebrate soon.

The Vortex is pretty quick upwind in all but very light conditions. I'd agree the sail is a little flat - faster in a breeze of course. The tip for lighter breezes is to have the lowers bar tight - so that with no kicker, the mast is either dead straight or even very slightly inverted. That helps the leach stand up, keeps a bit of fullness in the sail and so powers it up significantly.
No cunningham whatsoever unless overpowered. (Quick tug to 'smooth creases' then let it off and leave it). Of course its not cut to be used with a jib, but as its quite a flat entry, I can't see that being a big problem.
And yes, I can go to the bow on the Vortex  - often do between races to adjust rig tension - but wouldn't dispute that the V twin will be more stable when thats needed!


Edited by Hector - 20 Apr 12 at 1:13pm

I always felt that flatness of the sail was due to the mismatch with the RS700 noodle mast, I don't think I've come across anything as flexi in dinghy land.

Edited by G.R.F. - 20 Apr 12 at 3:10pm

Ah. there's a thing, then we're close, down the lake the only thing I occasionally got past was a vareo, and I managed to stave off a laser last night even without a working jib, it's pathetic really all this, it's too heavy, has too much wetted area, I can't lift it onto the trailer without help, I should give up, admit it's a two hander, put a sensible rig on it, see if I can't blag an ex Olympic 49er set up, then we'll see some action...