Tasar PN

Wow its great to see so much interest, thanks allanorton for starting this thread but come and try a Tasar before you get too worried. I'm sure you will feel a lot better afterwards and perhaps start thinking about the bigger issue of handicap and why we still use a system designed around the huge club dinghy fleets of the 70's.

I would never advise anyone to buy a Tasar to win in Handicap racing. We have been stuck with a penal rating for the last 15 years as other classes have moved on due to the nature of the PY returns system. When did you see a Tasar win or even place in the top ten of any of the major handicap events. One problem is that the best sailors in a lot of classes are rarely posting results in club handicap events therefore never show up in the returns. I would suggest 1050 would be a fair number if we matched sailors of comparable ability and equipment.

My National 12 has more sail area and is quicker on the water, as for modern Merlins, Fireballs Flying Fifteens.... The banter when I travel to open handicap events is usually that I have brought the wrong boat, yet at club level racing against sailors that do not attend World Championships or compete in the top ten in their national fleet we do rather well.

The new sails were introduced as a facelift, and are £150 a suit cheaper than the Dacrons. About a square foot of area has been added to the jib roach with a redistribution from middle to head in the mainsail. The corners of the sails are in the same positions as with the dacrons so there is no need to move sheeting positions.  The mast is still two piece aluminium and there are no plans for any future changes.

I really hope the new sails are quicker, so far we know they are more gust responsive than the old sails and look and feel great. In the first big comparison dacrons placed 1,2,3. oops. But there were a lot of excuses. Sailing fast is fun doing it in comfort with a good friend is fantastic.

Sailing in handicap races is about sailing for enjoyment. Only one boat will win. People sail Tasars because its so much fun with so little effort. Husbands and wives, girl and boyfriends, big children and small. All want to go fast but without the need to be great athletes and without the stress of a third sail. Both Tasar crew tend to be extremely good looking and have excellent taste. Its a niche market...

If any of you want to try a Tasar send me a mail or get in touch through the Tasar website.

Tim Knight

Tasar European President

Owner of various Tasars and a National 12

 

 

 

 

Originally posted by Medway Maniac Originally posted by Chris 249 Report from the NSW state titles said that some of the 45 Tasars were choosing to mix dacron and mylar.... Ahem, back to Tasars then. Do they say what mix is preferred? Our Fireballs & Merlins seem to go for Mylar main + Dacron jib, but as the new Tasar jib is bigger than the old one I can't see a lot of need for Dacron?

There was a case when the mylar sail first came in to being for the Fireball that the jib would get completely trashed very quickly. This was due to a combination of:

1) Most Fireballs have a strut that the jib has to go over every time the boat tacks or gybes.

2) When the kite is launched from the bags they then to catch the clew of the jib and deform it.

3) The materials and construction were not up to the job (I heard of a mylar jib 'exploding' in to is component panels in a strong breeze).

I believe that 3 has been sorted but the other 2 are down to the way the boat is laid out, not a hug amount can be done about that. Hence why most top fleet Fireball's still have dacron jib, mylar main.

Regards,

Paul

When I was younger, it was definately the case that 420s went soft after about 2-3 seasons, hence the reason that the squads would go through so many boats. Saying that though, older 420s were beating new boats but that may be due to sailor ability and nothing else. The re-sale value of the boats are really low due to the fact that they do go soft, and most youths go for the squads because if they are selected, they generally get a new boat or at worst, one that's a few seasons old, so what is the point in buying an expensive 420, when if you are good enough and needing a competitive boat, you can get one off the squad?

Originally posted by Isis Originally posted by Chris 249 Yes, it's not as if the Cherub sailors EVER make unkind remarks about other classes themselves....... True, but we dont completely make stuff up just to be spitefull.

Yes, on re-reading the first ant-Cherub post I can understand why you were annoyed.

Agreed