Hardest nationals to win?

Originally posted by Stefan Lloyd Originally posted by CT249 It sounds a lot like what was quoted! Only if you read it carelessly. You have deleted the qualifications I made.

You said "Boat tune, at the level applied by dinghy and keelboat sailors, barely comes into it."

I left out the "at the level applied by dinghy and keelboat sailors" to keep the quote short, but only because it was obviously irrelevant given that the discussion was about comparing the tuning of dinghy and keelboat sailors to windsurfers, and therefore any mention of the level of dinghy and keelboat sailors' tune was tautology.

Obviously in a discussion of the tuning of dinghy and keelboat sailors versus the tuning of windsurfers, the level of  tuning in the former is a  factor.

 Comparing reasonably similar classes (ie International Canoes v Division 2 development boards, Windsurfers One Designs v Lasers) in which the fleets I sail in have similar world ranking and in which I have sailed with success at national level, I would certainly hesitate to say that tune "barely comes into it" in boards compared to boats.

For example, the guys I windsurf against seem to be VERY cluey about tweaks. Their record includes Olympic 470 rep, 1st and 2nd in the 18 Foot Skiff worlds, 1st or 2nd in the Tornado Euros, 3rd in two-man dinghy in Youth worlds, 3rd in 29er worlds, and better results nationally.

Sailors with this sort of tweaking knowledge are then put in an environment (boards) where very rigid sailcloth on carbon spars means that the sails respond dramatically to minute tweaks (one multi world champ in boards says that she adjusts her clew 6-8 times per beat, over a range of some 5mm....staggering to think she could tell the difference but I'm convinced she can given the standard at which she sails and the way the rig reacts to tiny movements) and this means that tweaking and tuning certainly does matter.

I would, however, agree that this sort of discussion is impossible to be dogmatic about, because it depends on your vantage point. Surely no one who has sailed dinghies can sail boards without their viewpoint being influenced by the type they came from. I find it hard to assess how Laser sailors think, for example, because I've been fascinated by the technical side of sailing and I tend to assume all Laser sailors are the same and come from the same angle.

PS why do younger sailors do better in Lasers and boards? Largely because older sailors aren't up to the physical demands. I used to train against a guy who got a PhD about Laser sailing, they're not all intellectual lightweights.


Edited by CT249

If you want to try and win a nationals this year, I suggest the Tasar.  The prize for the highest placed dacron boat is a new set of mylars - must be worth £800.  They usually get about 30 boats out, and most of the top guys will have made the switch to mylar by now anyway, so there will probably only be a dozen or so boats to beat.  Seems like good odds for such a good prize.