Racing Sailboards v Racing Sailboats

You gotta hand it to the old fella. This place would be a poorer place without his contributions. Almost all Grumpf's posts raise a laugh in me or a 'here we go again'.

Go on, tell us. What's the single hander you're selling? (Can't find any reference to dingies on your website...

Originally posted by G.R.F.   i'm much older than most of y'all and with that comes a collection of more experience and if that comes across as arrogance well so be it.. Us Old Folk have earned the right..

Ah but G.R.F. It's with observation not old age that brings wisdom.... have you observed all of life's little lessons? 
In fact I think you have seeming as you choose for things to be interesting and spark a bit of fire rather than be "correct" and polite.  I think I was the only person who watched Batman Dark Knight and was on the Joker's side!

Well only 1/3rd of any start line get any chance if the truth were known,
but that wasn't my point, the point was that sailing a board isn't any
different from sailing a boat.

The only thing that differs is the 'handling' mechanics.

The rest is identical.

Naturally in any 'banter' environment (note this thread is in the banter
section) we are each going to proclaim the superiority of our chosen
class, I can't even remember what prompted me to post this in any event,
probably because I got wound up elsewhere.

Now the truth is I'm way past the age that I'd want, need, or am remotely
interested in, 'proving' myself to anyone, so going on a campaign to do
that is very very unlikely. It was pointing that out elsewhere to illustrate
what different folk want from their sailing that bought this cafuffle and
apparent 'bragging' about.

I happen to believe that 'back then' dinghy or sailboard it was more
difficult to consistently succeed than it is in a lot of classes that exist
today, it's an opinion, I was there back then, a lot of you were not and
since we don't have access to a time machine it can never be proven.

Fundamentally though if I'm on any crusade at all, it's that if someone
with my skills, past history, struggles to sail what's on offer, then there is
little hope for the rest of the world and if there is to be a better future,
something needs to alter before its too late.

Now as to having my ass kicked, it happens fairly regularly these days
thanks, but that doesn't mean there wasn't a time when no-one could
have come close to seeing it, never mind kicking it and that experience
remains mine to cherish. How to do it I'm always happy to pass on if
asked and use it to bolster others self confidence by ironic application in
extreme where necessary.

What does wind me up though is that in order to have any credibility
placed in ones opinion it is necessary to be a front runner, when in reality
the folk who create the majority of the market are us beginners to mid
fleet types, yet our views are ignored, by the charge being lead from the
front as the demand for ever increasingly unstable craft bolster other
fragile egos in the pursuit of what?

Light wind boatspeed?

Certainly nothing I recognize as the real joy of sailing.

Tearing down a windy reach up and down and in and out of the troughs
with twenty odd knots up your backside and your mortal foe in hot
pursuit..

Board Boat it matters not, it's just the joy of the chase, I'm here to glean
all your experiences and learn from them and like I said I'm happy enough
to pass on mine if you want to hear them, you just have to accept i'm
much older than most of y'all and with that comes a collection of more
experience and if that comes across as arrogance well so be it..

Us Old Folk have earned the right..

Originally posted by G.R.F. Heaven help y'all if I do go win something sitting down

Go on then show us what you can do ... borrow an RS200 or Laser Radial, they should suit your stature and are fairly easy to handle; winning is all in the stratergy & tactics ... enter the nationals and show us your skill.

Grumps,

It must have been great to have been part of the windsurfing fad, I am sure there are lots of things that we can learn from other sports; if you could just drop the "we're better than you stuff" then your input would be so much easier to digest.

You may be a good windsurfer but that dosn't mean you'll automatically be a good dinghy sailor just as some of the dinghy sailors who dabbled with windsurfers failed.