V3000

Originally posted by mike ellis sorry i should have made that clearer. in the light stuff you cant get the bow down upwind without fighting past the hounds.

with the gnav on the V3000, the lowers have been raised to the top of the strut so it's not such a squeeze, but crew on foredeck is faster in the very light stuff ... it's comfy once you get there

the 'underpowered' sail plan means sail control is not much of an issue for the 3000 compared with higher performance boats ... average settings for the conditions works, possibly playing the kicker occasionally

the kicker can be fed back to the helm within the new rules ... with boom sheeting and no mainsheet turret on the V3000 (or converted Laser 3000s) this will be easier to arrange

the narrow beam and small rudder mean you have to react to gusts before they hit ... good prep for higher performance boats (and adds to the fun)

the hull/rig combination suits the "KISS" approach to controls, letting crews concentrate on conditions and tactics, with their heads out of the boat

Spoke with Jeff at Vandercraft a couple of days ago ... he's built three 'production' hulls now, to order, and has orders for two more (Nick being one)

Two are going to Wilsonian (on the Medway) where the trials took place ... everywhere the boat appears it gets interest which will hopefully lead to more orders ... one to Torbay, one to Carsington, and one is Jeff's (Bristol C?)

Jeff says the Phantom class had just 30 members when he started build, they're now up to 230+ ... here's hoping!!!

Originally posted by NickA And no, you can't pitch-pole it

Now there's a challenge if I've EVER heard one!

That's what they said about the Dart 16, but I managed to put that A-over-T in Cardigan Bay.

Congratulations to the class for turning a mediocre boat into one that seems very well sorted! And Nick, you deserve alot of credit for voting with your wallet!

Edited by Strawberry

im talking about the laser 3000. my freind has a habbit to exagerate though so maybe he was wrong.

i have sailed with a freind in his l3000 and i thought that it was a nightmare downwind with the kite. so much lee helm!!! upwind it wasnt that nice either because it was light and the crew couldnt get far enough forward. my other major nigle with this boat is that i couldnt reach anything apart from helm and mainsheet. the crew had to come in off the wire to do it and i imagine that would be a pain in a blow. also my freind seemed to think it pitchpoled too easily. i had a look at the v3000 at the boat show and it looked much better for control lines bit i think the rudders still too short for all the lee helm. anyone think the lee helm was solved if theyve sailed a v3000?