The Blaze owners Thread

Nice one James, I'm guessing by your slant that your in agreeance of GRF's , albeit tongue in cheek, claims that he has somehow singlehandedly rescued the destiny of UK dinghy sailing from a future of economic doom. Come on James, really? I know your going to be best buddies this year on the 100 circiut, supping pints at the bar telling anyone who will listen about how involved you all were in the conception and development of the 100 via the wonder of the internet. The trick here is, in my opinion, a very clever one, Rs were going to build the boat anyway and the way they wanted it to be but they put the idea out here, the internet, first. People get all excited and alot of hype is created, you all feel like your a part of the development and therefore "buy into the dream". A trick rooster were trying with RPX and cirrus with icon.

My opinion is that RS caught wind of the D-1 development and thought they had better try and counter that development, much the same way they did with the 700 vs MPS, a strategy that worked in the short term but long term? Look at the fleets now. From what I understand the 100 has a much better chance against its rival long term, time will tell.

So back to GRF and his single handed crusade against a backwards industry, one that he has won in his mind by getting the backing of RS to build his dream, get real. I know you have a reputation for tongue in cheek style posting but there is a line and your over the horizon. There is a chance that your actually alright but you come across as seethingly obnoxious and in desperate need of an ego check. And lastly your constant referal to this hetracil stuff makes me wonder what your browser history must be like, why and how you managed to arrive there only you can answer.

Well seeing as there's a thread for this now, I thought I'd share my experiences of my first Blaze sail yesterday... 

Actually, it was a Halo.  I was in Burghfield helping Mike L with some ICON stuff and the weather was glorious (sunny, puffy F3?), so I left Mike to it whilst borrowing his Halo.

It was a Mk1 hull, in superb condition and very well sorted.  Simple to launch with a stable hull.  It was a centre sheeted version, with a long tiller extension and Mike warned me I had to put the tiller round the back.  After forgetting on my first tack (about 10yds offshore!) and inspecting the bottom of the hull  I soon got the hang of it.  FWIW, it floated nicely on its side and was simple enough to right and climb back on board, again sitting nice and still whilst sorting myself out.

The Halo sail, from North, is very attractive, sets well and actually didn't seem dauntingly large.  Visibilty was great and the centre sheeting made gybing very simple although upwind sheet loads are fairly high. Simple enough to hold with the ratchet, but hardish to pull in those last few inches. Mike mentioned some boats use an extra purchase, ut I think I'd keep it like it was. I was suprised with how little outhaul tension Mike recommended, but it worked.  I think I'm just used to the very flat sails on the NS.

Sitting on the wings was really fun and a lot comfier than I had expected (at least for the half hour I sailed it) and gives oodles of righting moment. I hadn't realised they stow away when not in use, making it no wider than anything else in the boat park - and a very simple operation it is too, just pull them out and pin them in place.

The hull planes very easily and sails downwind with real speed - much much faster than a Laser (I've never sailed a Phantom so can't make that comparison).  I should imagine that on a lake like Burghfield (with several islands in the middle) that it would get downwind faster than many assymetrics.  Speaking of Burghfied, it was great to see so much activity at the club on a Saturday afternoon in April.  A really thriving bit of water.

When I came in Mike gave a demonstration of how it should reslly be sailed and was absolutely flying!

So, I'm now boatless whilst waiting for my ICON and would defintely accept any offers of more rides in a Blaze or Halo!