Fireballs Nationals

Mozzy, picture a handicap race on the sea, medium to light winds, like we often get. Go round the top mark and head downwind. Slow symmetric boat can choose, go straight there, or more likely, head up a few degrees to get flow over the kite, and off you go. Slow asymmetric kite, once hoisted, luff to get kite to fill, spend the whole leg trying to bear away whilst keeping speed up, but the boat slows, you have to luff again to keep the sail pulling. For me, that is very frustrating. The boat has been designed to deliberately have an area I can't sail in down wind, but the only tactic is trying to sail low, because the extra distance isn't made up for by the gain in speed.

The effect is certainly less in a nimble boat like the 200, and in "champagne" conditions there is nothing more fun than bearing off in a big gust and going like a train, even in something like a Feva. But for me (especially sailing on a pond, where the effects are magnified) the frustration and lack of tactical choice in boring weather puts me off.

If the wind is right, I can always crew, rent or borrow a 2000 or the like and have lots of fun.

Originally posted by Dougaldog we were working on a project that would  see me sailing at the Merlin and RS 400 Championships with a 'new' crew - someone reasonably new to the sport but who was keen to get involved.

<yawn>

Originally posted by Chris 249 Originally posted by iGRF No good letting sym sailors try to design assyms, would be like using a windsurfer to design SUPS.. doh. The guys who design the best assy boats also sailed and sailed sym boats.