I'd like a boat with an asymmetric. As far as I see it, there's 4 options: Vareo, 100, 700 and Musto Skiff. I know from experience that I'm too light for the Vareo. The 100 and Musto are too expensive. That leaves the 700. I'm 16, 60kg and about 5'8"-5'10" and sail on an estuary. There's a couple of Mustos at the club. I have some experience on the 29er and quite a lot sailing a 500 with an instructor, but I'm not exactly an experienced skiff sailor. How would I be able to cope with the 700, and is it worth my time?

 

http://www.rs-association.com/docs/RS700%20Rack%20Setting%20Guide.pdf - http://www.rs-association.com/docs/RS700%20Rack%20Setting%20Guide.pdf

 

The lowest weight they run the table down to is 68kg....i don't know how tall you are but guessing around 6ft your going to be trying to compete in an equalised boat with a good 12kg disadvantage.

 

There is always the "storm" sail for teh vareo that trys to make it more manageable for smaller sailors.  Depends upon what you want really....do you just want a boat for 12 months until your chosen helm comes out of teh feval and into the 29er?

 

Hi Jaws

 

I have to say that at 60 kg you are probably too light to handle the 700 at the moment.  In terms of performance, by being 8 kg outside of the equalisation range you will have the same sort of "right weight for the conditions" issues non-equalised classes have to deal with being quick in the light and downwind and struggling in a blow.  These will still be less than normal due to the equalisation, but still there. 

 

My real concern however is that you will find the boat much too powerfull in everything except a light/medium wind and will struggle to right the boat after a capsize.  We have had some young ladies try the boat and prove to be very good in the right conditions but do you want to limit your sailing like this?

 

I'm not quite sure where Neptune has calculated the 12kg disadvantage from.......

 

Cheers

 

Ian

 

 

.. oh ok.  Don't forget that the equalisation is applied in bands. The lower limit is not defined for the 12kg range as this is the maximum correctors we carry, but this would be the point from which to measure the disadvantage Jaws faced.

I'm a fairly experienced sailor in most things fast. Moved to the 700 to complement the Hurricane 59 as new working pattern means I can no longer guarantee my weekends so cannot campaign the cat as much as I would like. Well used to trapeze helming and have good balance.

On the minus side I'm 42 next week so not perhaps as agile as a 16 year old. On the plus I'm 6'1" and 90kg. I have the racks set to the second hole.

I am capsizing less now after 6 months of sailing. But I still flip it at least a couple of times each time I sail. That's if I'm racing where I cheat by only flying the kite on one side, avoiding a spinnaker gybe. If I'm sailing midweek and trying to crack the kite gybes I'm capsizing 50% of the time. I'm improving steadily but it's only fair to tell you that after 6 months I'm still basically crap, having previously thought I'd got this sailing thing sussed and was pretty good.

Anyway, you may turn out to be naturally gifted so good luck with that. But to echo Ian re the capsize recovery...

At 90kg I expect any damn centreboard I stand on to instantly right the boat. On the 700 I have to loop 18" of spinny sheet over the racks, stand 6" back on the cboard and give an almighty heave-ho. I have sealed the top of the mast as best I can to stop inversion but when i do fully invert its a cow to get back up.

I'm loving learning new stuff in this boat and Id love to encourage you to get stuck in. But I really don't know how you'll right the boat after a flip at 60kg. 

Those reasons might well have a bearing on weather or not the 700 is a good choice.

What I am trying to say is if you got on the laser circuit then you may not feel as board, keep your 29er and continue to crew and find crew. by doing this your sailing will improve so much more (even if you are already pro) and when you do find a long term crew you can transfer back into your 29er, this way you are not spending much money on a boat that is not right for you and you are still getting to go sailing.    

What do you think of the 29er to sail, easiness and ideal weight and crew ability?

would it work for me?

 I am a OK sailor (can come 4th in open events and have a 2nd in a youth travellers event) I weigh about 63kg and sail a topper and radial at the moment. My crew would be my mother in very light winds if she wanted to go out and in any stronger winds I would be able to rope in one of my friends at the club. 

There's some people with whom the calm, firm talk approach works. This particular individual was not among those, and only extreme action would have worked. I spent a long time considering what was right before I did so, but I arrived at the conclusion that such action was necessary.

Regarding the 29er, horrendous the first few times out, like trying to sail a waterski. Then something clicks and it becomes a lovely little thing, although no less punishing of errors. 55-65 kg is about ideal for a helm, 65-75 kg on the crew. Ideal total weight is 120-135 kg. I'm a bit light to crew, but when my most likely helm is only 50 there's not masses of choice. It seems to be much better suited to ponds; with such a small kite for a skiff, and so little volume in the bow, avoiding the back of the next wave going downwind is quite important. That's in short, sharp chop. I don't know how it handles in big, long waves but the photos on here show that it's interesting...  http://www.capizzano.com/29worlds2011/index.html - http://www.capizzano.com/29worlds2011/index.html

29er is great if you can put in the time required and accept that to start with there are conditions you would have loved before that are simply too challenging but as long as you have experience sailing with a crew and both of you are happy to have a laugh and get wet then your fine. regarding weight, I'm 70kgs and my crew is the same which we find is roughly right but ideally I need to lose some weight and my crew gains some so we don't lose out in light airs and have more leverage in heavy winds. Last thing, from experience the boat is harder to sail well in light winds than medium/ strong winds and it also probably halves the learning curve if you stop chopping and changing crews :) Hope I've helped

Having sailed my boat at both types of venue (e.g. Grafham for the inlands and HISC for the Youth Nationals I would disagree on this since the only problems you can have is if you don't steer through the waves and aren't prepared to get back upwind and down (I sometimes find myself perched off back corner when my crew is in the groove downwind :D (or out the back after over-balancing during a gybe) ;) tmol