Yet another PY number moan

My daughter sails her Oppie at a small inland gravel pit and my observation is that at that particular club it pays to sail the slowest boat that will carry your weight. The courses are so small that the quicker boats can never get up to speed in the gusts and often are lighter and therefore harder to keep moving in the lulls. British Moths work a treat, as do the Oppies which surprisingly never drop back much from Lasers and Solos.

If you took the same fleet and dropped it in the water at my main club the result would be totally different. For a start the Oppies wouldn't make against the tide and the Lasers would stretch away very quickly.

Its amazing the difference a venue can make in handicap racing.

Maybe they need to accept their fate that they are now handicap sailors and whinging about other people is the only catharsis available... Or alternatively just race in class somewhere which caters for proper racing.

Originally posted by Happilyover40 The club is in an inland loch. The complainents aren't the adults but the youths that have moved into Radials and Toppers...and were winning when they were in Optimists.     Maybe the younger Optimist sailors are just better but......

Which club?

Wind strength? Have you had run of big breezes? My knowledge of those classes is sketchy but from what I've seen recently Oppies seem to be the heavy weather weapon of choice.

Originally posted by piglet Did the OP say what type of venue? The offending Oppie sailors will move into 4.7's soon, and quite possibly clean up in those as well.