RS 800 Mainsail

Originally posted by Daniel Holman If it had all full length battens it'd become nearly as much of a slut as a 14 Alex. Soft battens mean that it's less on/off binary in tacks/gybes/manoeuvres at the expense of a little profile stability. Remember that the remit ( which it fulfills well) is to be accessible to average sailors, mixed crews etc. An early prototype was shelved because it capsized when left floating while the trolley was grabbed. 14s will capsize if you show it a sniff of heel, and in no wind at all if you don't hold them.

It's a two person skiff FFS.
That's one to hold the boat, the other to get/lose the trolley.
Designing boats to be left floating unattended should not be in the remit, it's not a family boat or a leadmine.
Perhaps a better design of trolley would allow a smaller crew to fetch it? The standard Rs one weighs a ton.

My experience of 800's, current issue, is that tacking the battens in light air is much more of a problem than in the 400, where the bottom one flips and all the others follow.
Would be interest to compare the new sail, a bit more power in the light stuff would be welcome.

Looking forward to it personally, one of the over-riding reasons I bought into the class was to start getting square head main experience whilst sailing the 800 at a very light crew weight and with a girl crewing for me, then allowing a possible final move to a 49er.

This is Luke Alex's crew so I fully understand how much of a handful the 14 can be while trying to get on and off the beach. Was just wondering why they didn't go for it. 

Edited by carshalton fc - 28 Feb 13 at 7:16pm

Looks like a step in the right direction and I can't see it causing any harm to the class. The 14's changed to square top mains a few years ago and they really do make the diffence in the light stuff and being slightly flatter go faster in the heavier winds.