Who was out this weekend?.....

Originally posted by G.R.F   two seconds later Jumanjis foot lost its grip on the rail of the boat and we were in to windward.

You don't need some of that pro-grip stuff that you are so fond of do you?

Medway this Sunday.  Half a gale did not materialise and the first race was a rather gentle afair with the crew getting out on the wire only once. Hence we had difficulty with the RS400.  There was a 800 out in front and at one point I thought we were going to catch him but our battle was with the 400 and we swapped position several times and crossed the line together, so by handicap they beat us but it was good fun.  It seemed hours later the rest of the fleet finished, an asortment of 29ers, Vortexes and an MPS. We had an increasing number of flat spots on the way back to the line and then over lunch the wind died completely.

It didn't look good for the afternoon with an increasing tide running and no wind so we packed the boat up - and then the wind arrived.  It was a mad scramble to get the boat re-rigged and we made a few mistakes (low rig tension, spinnaker haliard caught up with the downhaul and the jib with a twist in it) but we made it to the start and started quite well.  The fast carbon Osprey was out and gave us trouble upwind but on the first kite reach we slaughtered them but then came a very long beat against the tide, and they got their revenge.  Fortunately the wind was quite strong so by footing off a bit we could keep them in our sights and they only rounded the windward mark a 100m in front which we took back in the next 500m downwind.  The 800 and the MPS were gone and the Osprey probably thought the same about us.  However one of the legs was a tight reach to tight for our kite but the Osprey could and so thay came back a bit but we were far enough ahead to beat them on handicap by the finish I'm sure.

No other 4000s out which was a disappointment.  Technical note - just a little more wind and we'd be as fast upwind as the Osprey.

Took the new GP out today, wind was to much to take my Misses out in the boat so my brother came out with me, 32 stone hiking out and we still got blown flat once, down wind with kite up was quality, to fat b**tards sat on the transom spray every where.  One of the best sails i have ever had, the nice thing was being able to sail in winds like that again, as the 14 would of stayed firmly under cover in that!

The nice ones, Duffin wooden ones or Speed GRP/FRP (can't remember which is the better one) are very nice, you do need a bit of weight in a blow but it's manageable without.  Spinnaker not so big, but kept that way to enable smaller crews/ladies to crew.  In light winds once you get them going they hold speed quite well, as long as you can get them going...  Great fleet racing, very close competition if that's what you're after - I can vouch for that with about 25-30 on the startline throughout the winter at my club.

Olly aything with the double floor in is pretty good, early speed boats take up a bit of water if not well maintained hence being slightly heavy, duffin/harper wooden boats are the ones to have imo, the GP carries weight really well, as well as lighter crews.  Easy to sail, superb fun in a blow.  they are however as you are aware not a HP dinghy, they are however industructable, insureable, with the ability to sail across the whole wind range!