Who was out this weekend?.....

Originally posted by Graemef Originally posted by mike ellis i tried out a 29er and an rs 500 on wednesdsay. the 500 is so much slower than the 29er, it was also alot less fun. we spent so much time trying to get the 9er to stay upright after we capsized it was so funny. as soon as i can get rid of the feva im getting one . Why I'm even asking this I dont know, your bloody fifteen and therefore imho "know the square root of diddly squat", but since you seem to be the only person on this forum to claim to have sailed an RS 500, how did you draw your conclusions v speed against the 29er? Sometimes things feel fast (like the Musto) because they are over canvassed and unstable, it doesn't necessarily mean they will be round the cans. A 29er would disintegrate in the conditions we often sail in, so its out. I was really impressed with one I saw at Grafham, but its a definite no no for me right now, so the question is, how much slower and why? How heavy was your crew?

ok firstly i may be only 15 but i have just done my maths gcse early and got an a* so i think i know the square root of a reasonable amount.

we decided the 29er was faster than the 500 after we went to burghfield and tried out one. it was ok at 1st because we are not used to trapeze boats but after a while we realized that upwind a national 12 was keeping pace with us and on the run (this may have been because we dont know the best angles downwind) the boat just didnt seem fast.

we tried out the 29er later that day on queen mary resevoir (freinds sail there) ther wasnt that much difference in windstrength but the 9er planed upwind pretty much constantlywhereas the 500 only started to plane downwind. downwind the 9er was so much more responsive and quieter than the 500 so we figured it must have been going quicker.

i couldnt say why the 9er is quicker than the 500 but it seemed a lot more responsive and it was so much quieter than the 500. the 500 is probably going to be better for someone who wants to learn to sail competitively with a trapeze and an asymetric but for proper racing the 9er will be better because it is that bit more refined.

me and my crew combined come to about 120-130kg.

i hooe that was a good enough comparison, i dont realy know why but the 500 just wasnt as exciting as the 29er.

oh and one other thing, the 500 was easier to right than the 9er, it came up quicker and stayed vertical whereas the 9er took longer to come up and spat us off before we could get it moving again

Edited by mike ellis

Originally posted by 49erGBR735HSC The 29er is lighter and has a better developed rig therefore the reason that most people reckon its faster without seeing the 2 boats racing together. The fact that the 29er was designed as a more of a hybrid racing boat and the RS boat designed more to allow fast sailing for a more general market also indicates the 29er is faster. Saying that, both have similar sail areas and reckon the faster of the two boats round the course will be down to the better sailor than the boat which has an outright speed advantage. Reckon the 500 might be quite a good choice for Hythe S.C. due to it looking more bouyant up front than the 29er....less chance for the thing to go down the mine and looks a lot more robust than the 29er just in case there are any landing problems.

Thank you my thoughts exactly

Originally posted by Pierre I await with interest a first hand comparitive sail of the RS500.  It looks like a Vareo with a different rig on to me.  I find it difficult to believe it would whip a 29'er but it could well be a good round the cans jobby.When does yours arrive Graemef ?

Probably in time for winter, frost bitten hands and dry suits. Can't say I'll
be that enthusiastic about thrashing a new boat through the winter.

It was due "some time in september" but they appear to be running
behind schedule and late October is now being suggested.

Mind you, this strong wind has been getting us near the front just lately,
were it not for one cock up at the gybe, we'd have won last thursday, as it
was we slipped back to fifth, then managed to catch up, fought back to
vying for 2nd place with a 470 that didn't want or couldn't put the
spinnaker up because it was a tad breezy.
We would have creamed him on the last reach and taken 2nd if I hadn't
larked about by trying to moon him as we went past and lost the bloody
spinnaker in a high speed flap frenzy that nearly sent us into the drink
again, we probably got it on handicap, there were only two 470's ahead of
us in the end.
It's such a blast, having two of us in the boat alterntively pissing
ourselves with laughter as we stuff someone or stuff ourselves (The boom
came over in the middle of the spinaker drop and smashed us both into
the drink, lucky I wear a helmet, poor old steve took another head butt).
The previous sunday I'd single handed it in a wind that varied from
bugger all, to twenty knots, no fun at all, I was the last boat to finish
again, although that turned out to be a 7th but it was the worse time I'd
had since the Musto, its a lot to do on your own in a breeze frig with all
those bloody ropes.

Originally posted by Graemef Originally posted by mike ellis i tried out a 29er and an rs 500 on wednesdsay. the 500 is so much slower than the 29er, it was also alot less fun. we spent so much time trying to get the 9er to stay upright after we capsized it was so funny. as soon as i can get rid of the feva im getting one . Why I'm even asking this I dont know, your bloody fifteen and therefore imho "know the square root of diddly squat", but since you seem to be the only person on this forum to claim to have sailed an RS 500, how did you draw your conclusions v speed against the 29er? Sometimes things feel fast (like the Musto) because they are over canvassed and unstable, it doesn't necessarily mean they will be round the cans. A 29er would disintegrate in the conditions we often sail in, so its out. I was really impressed with one I saw at Grafham, but its a definite no no for me right now, so the question is, how much slower and why? How heavy was your crew?

The 29er is lighter and has a better developed rig therefore the reason that most people reckon its faster without seeing the 2 boats racing together. The fact that the 29er was designed as a more of a hybrid racing boat and the RS boat designed more to allow fast sailing for a more general market also indicates the 29er is faster. Saying that, both have similar sail areas and reckon the faster of the two boats round the course will be down to the better sailor than the boat which has an outright speed advantage.

Reckon the 500 might be quite a good choice for Hythe S.C. due to it looking more bouyant up front than the 29er....less chance for the thing to go down the mine and looks a lot more robust than the 29er just in case there are any landing problems.

You were at Grafham ? Graemef. When ?

BTW Does Mike have to be bloody 15 (not just 15)?

And  why does he need to know diddly squat

Went windsurfing today it was fantastic. It was really fast and i was frightened to daeth lol. Was on a 230l board with a 5.8 and pacing a 75l 7m. It was rather quick