Hardest nationals to win?

In a phantom he could do it with out having to buy a hum vee to tow the boat to the event!

Edited by phantom871

I'd vote for Lasers, but with the proviso that with Lasers, becoming competitive involves largely doing a hell of a lot of work in a class where most things (not everything!) are a known quantity.

In a way that's the fascination of the thing....the almost mechanical/scientific way you can approach such a well-explored class, safe in the knowledge that hard work will pay off to a large extent and because the boats basically aren't hard to sail they don't take "X" years just to learn.

I think Turnturtle's right; some other classes are harder not in terms of expertise or general skill required, but in terms of time they take to learn how to get around the course. The handling skills particular to some classes seem to take longer to achieve than the skills required in a Laser, which can often be transferred from other classes. Other classes need tweaking skills that only experience in that class may give, perhaps.

Therefore other classes would be easier to win, but winning would take longer (as far as I can see).

One class I'm in is good (3 ex-Olympians, skiff worlds 1st and 2nd, Tornado Euros 1st or 2nd, 3 Youth Worlds medals, the 2000 Olympic trials runner-up etc etc etc raced at last year's states) although no one trains very hard these days - but one guy who has been on the podium at Youth Worlds and skiff worlds finishes right back.  It's not that he's not a bloody good sailor or that the level of competition is THAT high, it's just that some classes  take longer to learn than others because boathandling (or boardhandling in this case) is so hard.

PS; it was interesting to talk to a bunch of the top 14ers, like the ex world and current world champs; both of them mention the fact that it is now a less "professional" worlds than the 49ers etc and that the pros are at a higher level in many ways; as they damn well should be as it's their job.




Edited by CT249

Originally posted by turnturtle Originally posted by Chew my RS But I'm guessing he'd find it even easier in a Phantom. Ben Ainslie probably wouldn't finish the phantom nationals... there's only so many evenings the lad could survive having his trousers removed whilst being force-fed tennants super and mutton vindaloo. Laser- has to be the hardest competition, but factoring in all other angles for the 'jumping in a boat for the first time and winning the nationals' conjecture, I reckon the MPS must be upthere towards the top along with the 700, 29er and 49er.

I wasn't really thinking about what would be the hardest to win by jumping in because that of course would be a boat that is hard to sail.

I was wondering what the hardest event to win would be assuming that you had put together some sort of campaign ... still think the Laser is the one ...

Rick

PS- As to what is the easiest I don't think we want to go there as we'll upset folk ...

 

According to last years, that would make it the Cherub Class.

No doubt there'll be someone along in a minute to comment...

Originally posted by Rupert Maybe only Nationals winners should be allowed to comment on the easiest class to win in? After all, the rest of us haven't managed even that? Mind you, as race officer for the Comet Zero Nationals, I'd say the winner of that couldn't have found it any easier - he was the only one! But, you have to be in it to win it!

but then this thread woudnt be very long.how many people on this fourum have won any nats?