The Tasar v the Icon

Originally posted by iGRF Originally posted by blaze720 Some of the recent ones I've seen supplied have a bit of line that is sub-optimal in terms of both diameter and smoothness - this binds on the line/pole exit and causes all sorts to s**t. Hmm I don't think it's anything to do with the line, we're asking it to bend at right angles over an open tube end quite sharp with no cap or wheel or just a return would do it, it works eventually but there is a world of subtle use for it upwind as I'm sure you're aware, obviously on sea courses we spend a bit more time settled on a given tack so adjusting the leech tension and twist which this device affords, would work better with a smoother exit for the line out of the end of the pole. And whilst I'm being picky, that top batten I haven't had a look yet but if I find contract crap up there on an allegedly premium sail from North... In light wind it is the very devil to transition.. It looks dodgy on that picture reversed like ours kept doing.

Originally posted by blaze720 Some of the recent ones I've seen supplied have a bit of line that is sub-optimal in terms of both diameter and smoothness - this binds on the line/pole exit and causes all sorts to s**t.

Hmm I don't think it's anything to do with the line, we're asking it to bend at right angles over an open tube end quite sharp with no cap or wheel or just a return would do it, it works eventually but there is a world of subtle use for it upwind as I'm sure you're aware, obviously on sea courses we spend a bit more time settled on a given tack so adjusting the leech tension and twist which this device affords, would work better with a smoother exit for the line out of the end of the pole.

And whilst I'm being picky, that top batten I haven't had a look yet but if I find contract crap up there on an allegedly premium sail from North... In light wind it is the very devil to transition.. It looks dodgy on that picture reversed like ours kept doing.

Originally posted by Medway Maniac So, light airs, just like up here.  Surely even you could beat a Contender on a day like today.  Ben A. could probably manage it in an Icon in a F.6 - I kid you not.

Yes, i should have, but f**ked up, bad start, hit a mark and had to do turns, I nearly had him but they shortened. He however is a good sailor, loads of regatta experience, and usually wins in the light even against us in the Alto now it's sails are shagged. We beat the other one and everyone else even with the reround of the finish mark (that's two marks we hit, it's quite a bit wider than I'm used to and I always run tight to marks.

Why don't you swan over and take it out for a spin, with Andrew maybe, he likes it as well, spent the afternoon out in it when the wind filled from the south.

Edited by iGRF - 27 Jul 14 at 9:19pm

It's not what you do with the boat, it's what others around you do with theirs, Ben Ainslie couldn't sail that to beat any of our club Contender sailors.

It's not a difficult boat to get to grips with if you know what you're doing and todays crew does, having said that Thursdays crew was no slouch either. They both made it go very well eventually, it's all in that *jib, but however good you may get you're not going to out perform a kite down wind, or a wire upwind I suspect.

And in Answer to MM we had wind from every direction, sometimes at the same time, it's still a bit thundery.

*If that jib dangly thing were better engineered, there's a lot more you can do with it, it can act like a kicker up wind as well as sail it by the lee Snipe style off wind, but it snags on the line and needs a pulley or some smoother end cap, it could also usefully be a tad longer. We played with it a lot today and it rewards the effort instantly and you can feel it. Changing the leech profile, we may also have to mess with the barber hauler on the opposite side to tighten the 'entry leech first' but couldn't manage it today, so I'm sure there is more to do, but it still won't best a kite, wire, or wire and kite.

Oh and I learned how to tack properly today, can't believe I've missed that all this time, leave everything where it is and sail wrong handed a bit on the new tack before switching, a bit like windsurfing wrong footing out of a strap to strap gybe.


Edited by iGRF - 27 Jul 14 at 9:13pm

How was the wind down there today?