Single-handers

That laser rig has nothing to do with Laser themselves.
Hansen Aerosports if I remember rightly.

Originally posted by JimC Originally posted by turnturtle Also check out this 'experiment' from Laser, I'm 98% sure that isn't a Laser production. Same thing as the Rooster rig AIUI. Originally posted by Merlinboy I hate the term skiff, its a word developed by people with complex's about the size of the genitals, Oh nonsense... its a term used for a specific style and ancestry of boat (well actually several - the Australian open dinghies, the skiff moths and rowing boats all spring to mind). What irritates me is when classes that have absolutely nothing of the skiff heritage about them call themselves skiffs - like, err, the Musto Skiff, % Tonner etc.

 

Exactly jim you have emphasised my point the term is now widely used and not in the correct context, its like calling a citroen saxo a sports car.  The term itself is over used by people thinking it makes their sailing sound extreme.  So no nonsense at all really!

The term skiff is also used to refer to a type of high performance sailing dinghy, one that usually features an asymmetrical spinnaker and requires that the crew use a trapeze to help balance the boat. Examples include: Cherub Skiff,12ft Skiff, International 14 (14ft skiff), 16ft Skiff, 18ft Skiff, 29er, 49er, Musto Skiff

One current usage of skiff is to refer to a typically small flat-bottomed open boat with a pointed bow and a flat stern

How to race a skiff <- clicky

Originally posted by Guest#260 Originally posted by JimC Oh nonsense... its a term used for a specific style and ancestry of boat (well actually several - the Australian open dinghies, the skiff moths and rowing boats all spring to mind). What irritates me is when classes that have absolutely nothing of the skiff heritage about them call themselves skiffs - like, err, the Musto Skiff, % Tonner etc. Oh come on Jim don't start that old bandwagon again .. http://www.answers.com/t opic/skiff n. A flatbottom open boat of shallow draft, having a pointed bow and a square stern and propelled by oars, sail, or motor. <P =ety>[Middle English <SPAN =emon>skif</SPAN>, from Old French <SPAN =emon>esquif</SPAN>, from Old Italian <SPAN =emon>schifo</SPAN>, of Germanic origin.] A Musto Skiff is just as much a skiff as an 18fter ...

While an MPS may well be as much a skiff as an Aussie 18 (after all, for
many decades the 18s weren't called Skiffs) I'm a bit worried for the MPS
guys if we accept Answers as a source for definitions.

If we DO accept the Answers definition of terms on the MPS site;

1- all the MPS guys are going to be done for wrongful advertising as they
claim the boat has gear that it doesn't actually possess.

2- the US MPS event will attract 420+ boats.

3- the Laser 4.7 has a "large rig"; the Finn is a "light boat", and the Solo
has "little stability".

4- The MPS is either a tender, lifeboat, or pleasure craft on a larger boat
(or) a small rowboat (or) an inflatable rubber life raft.

5- The 505 and FD have extremely simple deck layouts.

6- The Laser, Solo, Phantom, Finn, Byte, Supernova, Ok etc don't exist
and are merely very popular figments of the collective imagination, since
the MPS guys claim that the boat is "the only true singlehanded skiff
available" yet the Laser, Solo etc fit the Answers definition.....

All those statements are the result of applying Answers definitions to the
MPS website. Since the first five are untrue, it's obvious that we can't just
apply Answers or other general definitions to dinghy sailing terms.

I am very confused by the fact that (according to the Answers definition)
my yacht's tender is a skiff, but my dad's 16 Foot Skiff Southern
Champion or the legendary 18 Aberdare (the boat that brought the "skiff"
term to 18s) were not skiffs....I've raced her replica and I wouldn't like to
tell Angry (the former world champ who runs the boat) that she's not a
skiff.

PS; Actually, the sixth claim is completely untrue in any sense........


   

Edited by Chris 249