Hardware development

I distrust fast pins where rig tension is low, boats with slack rigs and such like. I have a couple and decided to use them on my dyneema lowers for ease of adjustment, and I decided they were less critical than on the shrouds or forestay so it would be a safe place try them out. I had a protracted capsize on Sunday and during the process of recovering one of the fast pins came partially out releasing the lower and preventing me from sailing on. I'll be reverting to clevis pins and keyrings this weekend.

iGRF @2.49.

Originally posted by Do Different iGRF. I have a degree of respect for your drive to innovate. However on this point. If you have had a mast fall down five or six times, statistically compared to other dinghy sailors that would point overwhelmingly to operator error on your part.

Well it's been over two or three different boats, the EPS came down on the lake when a fastpin twisted out of one side of the chain plate, have still got the bent out of shape chain plate to prove it.

The Farr 1st time was a shackle that came suppled brand new, nothing I did. 2nd time might have been a bit my fault not saying why, third time was another fast pin on the lee side (I was out on the wire we all went in the water together)

The Hybrid/Fireblade was a fast pin (why do I never learn)1st time, then a bottle screw but I managed to get ashore before it completely fell down.

I've had boats that nothing (like the mast falling down) went wrong, the Musto, L3K, RS500, Alto, RS100, and the Solution, Solo, Minisprint have all been OK.

Originally posted by Mark Aged 42 3D sails have been done.....

And were slower and to this day I've never completely 100% understood why, I have theorys in that none 3D sails could 'breathe' better than their 3D fixed shape counterperts, but they were an expensive failure in Windsurfing (I was selling North in those days when they developed 3DL.and knew Larry Herbig the North Sails boffin that developed 3DL for windsurfing by grabbing time on their 'Area 51 Computerised mould. Having said that some of the 3D wave sails they built, I still rate to this day as superior to anything that has arrived since, but they were assembled from 3 D panels over special formers, so there wasn't the single continual strand sandwiched between the mylar or whatever carrier film they applied at the time.

It's still a very black art what makes sails fast over what you actually think is going to do it.

Edited by iGRF - 11 Feb 22 at 2:40pm

3D sails have been done.....