The RS900 - 'our' fantasy dinghy!

What happened to our fantasy dinghy?

Originally posted by winging it But you don't have dinghy sailing national titles do you?

I should have realised mentioning that, even couched in the 'we' context
would wind someone up, so you'll have to accept it meant not in
arrogance not that I mind coming across as arrogant, but in this context
it was meant purely in an illustrative way.

I accept for most folk they want 'class racing' which is probably better had
in the symmetric boats described but you'll just have to accept for some
folk style wins over substance every time.

And I'll have you know, windsurfing titles are far more difficult to attain
than dinghy titles, ask Geoff Carveth, but at the end of the day it's still
sailing and identical in every way, just different handling skills.

It's going to really wind you lot up if I go win something innit?

Image is a big thing with you isn't it GRF? Something about the "triumph of style over substance" springs to mind.

There's nothing wrong with asymmetric kites, racks, prebent rigs etc etc, any more than there's anything wrong with my wanting to sail a boat that has none of those things. If you want to talk about "kewell", I really don't think it's very "kewell" to bang on about your past achievements in a completely different sport. I could do that but I won't because it's irrelevant.

I don't have a beard, I don't drive a Morris Traveller and I don't wear yellow wellies, but if the FD class rules said I had to, it would probably be worth sacrificing my "kewell" in your eyes to sail a great boat and compete(ish!) with some of the best dinghy sailors in the world.

Back on topic, I've already got my fantasy boat so I'll bow out of this discussion now...

Look, Symmettric boats look like everything I dislike about dinghy sailing..

Old men with beards yellow wellies and morristravellers..

They are not kewell. I shall never ever sail in one voluntarily no more than I
would ever buy an Austin A35 again it's part of history, a nice part of
history but it's gone now, I've moved on.

The only reason I even gave sit down sailing a go was because the MPS
looked vaguely exciting and probably the only reason It stuck was because
it defeated me.

Then the whole sailing with someone else thing took hold and it's that bit I
really enjoy, the banter, overcoming our idiocy, shared success, shared
failure, but seriously we could have gone down the 470 route, there would
have been great class racing in our club had we done so, but what is the
point, to prove what? we're good racers? Between us we've got more
National Titles than you can shake a stick at, and we've sailed by far the
most competitive one design fleet there ever was, that's not what we're
doing it for, it's new experiences we're seeking.

We've had such a ball with this new Alto boat thing and it's taken us to
another whole different level when we get it right.

Originally posted by Noah The point about symetric  vs assym kites, Grumpf, is not that the assym is easier to trim (hand crank vs electric start), but that the symetric requires a whole new skill set to learn.

......and they're vastly more versatile, our symmy is great (faster than some assy's) on the hot angles as well as a dead run, very usefull on tight estuaries or creeks. As Noah points out they do require crews with greater dexterity and skill, I'm fortunate in that my crew has both.

  .....Devils advocate question, do symmy teams stay together longer because they both find their positions in the boat a rewarding challenge??