RS500 ...

Originally posted by allanorton the Contender is of the highest quality,

Oh grief folks, read the dictionary. Words are what separate us fron the apes. I dislike using them badly. It is in no way denigrating any boat to say its not the ultimate sailboat because there is no such thing.

Does it mean its not a very good single hander - clearly not. Does it mean its not an excepional singlehander - absolutely not. Does it mean its not the best singlehander - best is pretty meaningless. Sail it on a tiny gravel pit with 3 feet depth of water and its a nightmare, same as everything I like sailing is. You say the Contender is of the highest quality. Quite possibly, I have no view on the subject. But if you say its of the highest quality then you are implying there are other boats of the highest quality. So its not ultimate, so actually you agree with me...

You say the 14 is *AN* exceptional sailing boat. That means you think there are other exceptional sailing boats. I think you're right: quite a few actually. But that also means its not ultimate. So actually you agree with me...

Now Matt, try to prove it's a waste of time to disprove the meaningless claim of trying to disprove the wild assertion quoted above...   

Clearly the COntender is the ultimate singlehander.  I believe it was the first trapeze single hander.  And I believe being the first of its type, reading one of Jim's definitions, gives it the right to claim to be the ultimate singlehander...

 

Neil, about "Whilst I agree you don't need a brand-new boat with perfect foils, sails etc to win, why make life difficult? Boat preparation may be time-consuming (some people might even say boring), but it's a lot less time-consuming than the hours and hours on the water you'd need to hone your boat handling and tactics to the level where you can make up for a basic lack of speed."

I'm not sure that's true, at least in some classes. The cost difference between my current Laser and a brand-new one is equivalent to about three week's work. Therefore by keeping the old boat, because I have a flexible job, I can take 120 hours off to go training.

120 hours in a Laser makes vastly more difference than having a shiny boat does, and I'd wager a solid three week's 9-5 training makes more difference to the vast majority of sailors in every class than having a shiny boat does.

"The best start ever won't help you if you get rolled 200yds up the first beat by 5 boats whose start was nearly as good as yours, but who are simply going 1/4 of a knot faster!"

I have sailed Lasers and Tasars against many of the best current FD sailors (Rydge, Scarr, Johnson, Beyer - all close to the top worldwide) and you CAN beat them with an older boat in such classes. You'll need practise to get a better start, but there's no way they will go 1/4 knot faster through having a shinier hull.

Brett Beyer is obviously an outstanding sailor, as proven by his two world Apprentice Masters titles in Lasers, but It's a simple fact that you CAN beat multiple world Masters titles winners in an old Laser and this has already been proven on the water in Masters titles so far this season.

Actually I find that the Laser in 6 knots upwind isn't a bad ride. It's very slow and the helm is heavy, but it tacks beautifully and the racing is great. It's  much better to race in such conditions that the International Canoe (here in Oz at least) and more fun to sail than my other singlehanded ride, the Formula 16 cat.

Originally posted by JimC Words are what separate us fron the apes...

I don't know about apes, but a well-trained dog can recognise up to 200 words.

Actually I agree with you. Misuse of words is a major source of communication problems, especially in a medium like this one.