This is a bit of preliminary video from the Swift / Musto regatta that was recently completed in Florida.  Look for a much more complete and professional video in the future.<a href=" http://www.mydeo.com/videorequest.asp?XID=12349&CID=24967 - short clips '>http://www.mydeo.com/videorequest.asp?XID=12349&CID=24 967">short clips</a> 

Somehow the link did not work so you'll have to cut and paste. http://www.mydeo.com/videorequest.asp?XID=12349&CID=24967 - http://www.mydeo.com/videorequest.asp?XID=12349&CID=2496 7

Sorry

Bram

Actually,  all of this video was taken of Kris Henderson on one of his first sails in a Swift.  Later we will show video of Kris near the end of the event.  He is an amazing skiff sailor who was able to master the Swift in 8 or 9 days of sailing.  The wind was at 12 to 15 knots. 

Notice that after he screwed up the douse, he recovered in time to bear away to miss the leeward mark, round up, drop to his knees on the gunwale to adjust the cunno and vang, and get on with sailing to weather.

Normally, we put the tiller behind the knee that is on the wing for the douse.  We do set up a rate of rotation toward rounding during the douse.  This allows us to carry the kite right to the mark and head out immediately for the rounding.  The sheet has only about 4 feet of total play so when you  grab it at the block after the douse it will be fully sheeted by the time you are out on the wire.

Bram  

The event was great.  Both the Swift and Musto guys had a good time.  We completed 11 races in 4 days of sailing and the clinics we excellant.  The racing was held mostly in winds between 8 and 18 knots 

We invited the Mustos guys to race with us and Paul (from UK) actually won the first race.  After that the Mustos only started with us a few more times with mixed results.  I think the overall feeling was that the boats race very well together (very close).  It was difficult to reach a lot of conclusions because I was the only experienced Swift sailor and at 62 don't see myself as a serious contender (I finished 2nd in the regatta--Kris won with only 4 days of Swift sailing prior to the racing). 

We had a lot of new skiff sailors with new Swifts and it was amazing to see the progress during the event.  To see guys who hadn't sailed for 15 years learn to sail a Swift in 12 to 15 knots of breeze was an eye opener for me.  Clearly, I've been underestimating the talent of the average middle aged sailor (often guys coming back to the sport from keel boats).

A higher quality video that tracks Kris' progress will be finished in a couple of weeks.  In the end, he made two sail gybing from wire to wire (in 14 knots) look like childs play.  We have a large group of experienced skiff sailors coming into the class and it will be exciting to watch as the level of competition improves rapidly. 

I wasn't criticising his sailing of the Swift, just his shoddy trapeze technique! I would have thought that was transferable from boat to boat.

Bring the boat and the camera to the UK and I'll show you how it's done

I'll leave it to Rick. Here he demonstrates a very good trapeze technique. Just needs to get onto the balls of his feet!

Hi Bram,

It was great to meet you in sunny Florida.

I haven't been able to view the video but I can say that Kris Henderson's boat handling ability is some of the best I have seen. If people wanted to see crap trapeze technique they only needed to point the camera in my direction!!

It was really interesting seeing the MPS and Swift Solo together. They are similar in performance but very different in character. The Swift Solo is a much easier boat to sail than the MPS. I sailed both and really enjoyed them.

On a sailing difficulty scale with 10 being hard and 1 really easy I would place the boats I have sailed recently as follows:

MPS 9/10

59er 8/10

Swift Solo 7.5/10

Being as objective as I can - check out my signaure I would summarise the two boats as follows:-

MPS

Responsive - neat clean design. Boat "unsticks" nicely downwind. Tippy. Hard to tack. Large gap between gunwhale and rack.

Swift Solo

Good looking boat. Really nice powered up feeling going to windward. Unified main/ jib sheeting really works. With practice very easy to tack fast. You have to build it yourself. More room for improvement with the rig. Stable platform.

I really think both boats are good designs. The MPS is clean and pure. The Swift Solo is sophisticated and powerful. I didn't sail the Swift in 20 knots but in 15 it was very very controllable. I suspect that in the long term the Swift Solo will do better than the MPS as it will appeal to a broader cross section of the sailing world.

People building their own boats is pretty rare these days. A tiny minority of people have the space or time or even desire to do it this - hence SMOD popularity. Most people have far more disposable cash than they do time.

We really lucked out on the weather ah mate?  I've come to realize that you guys who sail in warm water have a real advantage.  You'll rarely see guys stay out in Puget Sound after 5 capsizes but I watched both Musto and Swifts guys stay out much longer in Florida. 

Your observations about the boats were pretty much echoed by everyone who sailed both.  The Musto guys were great to share their boats and in fairness their boats are half the price (unless you build your own Swift).  I think the Musto will do a very good job of capturing the "just out of  college" crowd (potentially a large market).  Most of this younger group lack the time to build a Swift and the money to buy one. You likely noticed that Swift sailors are mostly over 35 with stable careers.  More than 50% of Swift sailors own keel boats and have come back to  high performace sailing.

Regarding the sheeting system: 

With most equipment oriented sports,  the future is likely in integration of systems (like the auto main/jib sheeting, spin halyard/pole launch, spin halyard auto cleat/uncleat systems).    Look for a single string system on the Swift soon that completely adjusts the rig flex and leach tensions as the wind velocity changes.  After 9 knots of breeze, you'll simply pull the string harder as the wind blows harder.  We are very close to having this worked out. It won't require anything that you don't already have in your kit or can make and install easily.  You saw the early version on my boat--it works very well and was likely responsible for my good finishes as the wind increased (it now requires two strings).  Talk to me more about this before you bond your deck as we can probably save you some time on pulling in backing the hard way.

We're looking forward to coming to a Swift Championship Down Under in the not too distant future.

And finally:

After several postings, I'm a bit dissapointed that neither you Aussies or the POMs have commented on the lines of my boat (you can see that Greg and I are appreciating them).  Perhaps you just don't have an eye like us Yanks.

Bram

Bram

GDay Bram,

I'm really looking forward to getting mine finished as I think I'll probably be able to get as much sailing time in mine in a year as you guys from cooler climes can get in 3! In the middle of Summer here our sailing waters tend to be full of jellyfish so that is a pretty good reason to not get wet as well! The great thing about it being a singlehander is that if you look out the office window and it is a nice 10 - 15 knots of breeze you can go out without having to worry about whether your crew can make it or not.

Keep in touch about the single string to depower concept. We need to keep finding ways to make these adjustments simple so that we can keep our eyes out of the boat. - There were a couple of reasons at Fort DeSoto to keep your eyes in the boat though................... 

It would be great to see a Swift - Solo Regatta here in OZ in the not too distant future.  

Cheers,

Steve

Originally posted by timnoyce I'll give you that mate... she does look pretty smooth. One thing that I have noticed is the obviously generous wetted surface area compared to that of the musto. What is the performance like in really light airs? Is it possible to really get forward and lift the stern out? I realise that stability and performance almost always result in a compromise one way or the other...

Tim,

The photos are a bit deceptive.  The Swift is about 15% shorter than a 49er but has nearly 17% less wetted surface.  When you sit forward (just aft of the shrouds), the stern is just clear of the water in light air.  It is in this condition that the relative speed of the Swift is extremely fast compared to 49ers and the newest I-14's.  That is not to say that it is faster than either--it is not. It is just that the racing becomes much closer with those two as the wind drops.

You are right about the complexity of trade offs.  We are lucky that the Swift is fast since we have been focused almost entirely on the tactical aspect of sailing.  I believe that the sailing community with soon agree that it is simply the fastest tacking and gybing skiff on the water--wire to wire.   

I think you are mostly correct, especially in Europe.  The furture depends on commercially built boats to at least some degree.  We do have 78 Swifts, either completed or under way, that are mostly home built in the US.

We are working on getting production going on commercially built Swifts ( couple are being built as we speak).  We think we can provide the market with a good supply of boats without the downside of SMODs.

The picture below is of USA 002 (the first thoroughbred Swift).  This boat has five years of heavy use and is still as fast as any Swift on the water.  That deck has never been refinished!

Bram   

Doug,

Sorry for what's going to seem like a circular answer!

I'll write a piece about its' elements sometime fairly soon--with pictures.  It's a bit complex since seven elements must be in proper proportion to make it work (forestay angle, jib foot length, relativity attachment point on the launcher throat, boom height, boom length, bridle base width, and purchase of both the main and jib).  If any one of these is not correct, the system will not stay in sync--at least not as presently configured.

I'll post it on the swiftsolo.org website when I get the explaination complete (likely two months).

Bram

Originally posted by MRJP BUZZ 585 i like the wheels they look chunky, be good for britsh beach sailors as most wheels o launching trolleys are paper thin (well nearly)

Anyone know where you could get some of these for a launching trolley in the UK. They would make it alot easier getting up a shingle beach.