The ubiquitous Streaker..

Hmm, having to rethink my views on Streaker ownership after yesterday. Another of my Wednesday afternoon contemporaries has joined the fray in a Streaker which make four and of yesterdays fleet which was a bit light due to vacations and I'd left very quickly behind thanks to a good start and a longish beat with shifts and for the first time I felt a pang of loneliness as I set off on the hopeless task of putting the necessary minutes between me and the laser I'm normally in a death match with as they had a close battle. My race was only about sailing as short a course as possible and staying in the wind, I'm not normally out front that long, I usually screw up with the ropes or wiggle thing getting jammed in something or other, they catch me and it becomes interestingly irritating as I have to try and overtake them all again but for the last three weeks that's not happened. It may be because I'm getting more practised, and/or I've sorted affairs out with all those ropes thanks to some garden hose, so maybe it's time to reconsider. I have to say, yesterday however not very nice it might be to sail, I'd rather have been beaten by a couple of seconds over the water in a Streaker by another Streaker with him just in front of me knowing I'd gotten a shift wrong or he'd out manoeuvred me during a water call on a mark rounding than as it happened a clear four minute lead not enough by 10 secs because they're running Streakers off 1174 and my 1062 still isn't favourable enough, but yet it's destroyed my relationship with my previous protagonist who they run of 1102. Either way I can no longer win fairly in my own mind in the boat I love to race in so I may be forced into sailing some old hulk.. how wrong is that?

Cue class racing is best even if by doing so you have to compromise your enjoyment of the thrill of sailing argument..

I need to have another look at the class rules, see what they say about foils and steering although I imagine by now every loophole must have been explored by the lipstick applicators and still there are self balers - ugh.

Originally posted by mongrel Try one for a bit, if its not right, sell it on. The class racing aspect, for most people, makes up for inadequacies with the boat.

Edited by kneewrecker - 15 May 14 at 10:28am

1174 is very generous for the streaker, even on a puddle.

Edited by Blue One - 15 May 14 at 12:44pm

Originally posted by Blue One 1174 is very generous for the streaker, even on a puddle. Nice boats, a little uncomfortable in light winds.

Agreed, I suspect it's got something to do with moving everything close to the ludicrous Miracle figure, they have the double whammy of an already favourable handicap coupled to some very very good championship class sailors stooging around in them, I know I know they need their asses kicked, don't think I don't tell them at every opportunity..

So they're using that Sailwave thing that I still have yet to have a look at, which spits out recommendations, that with a flavour of the Sailjuice lot that some of them once went to and only enhanced the idea that the Miracle was 'under' handicapped if ever more nonsense could be suggested..

Edited by iGRF - 15 May 14 at 1:08pm

Pretty sure it wouldn't be class legal to bring the shrouds right down to a point around the boom like an EPS, or to have the mast unstayed. In either case, I'm pretty sure it wouldn't be a good idea at all with any of the class legal masts, and I guess it could put too much load on the foredeck where the mast goes through.