The RS100 Owners Thread

SO!  Let's put the record straight!  Pete Vincent (DSM) didn't invite us to the three boat testing until rather late in the day and with such short notice it was impossible to be there.  The idea, so I was told by Pete, was not to do a comparison but to take the opportunity to try three boats in one visit.  He thought that Burghfield was not the perfect testing venue (or so he said) but it would not cost as much as testing from HISC.  We therefore agreed to host the testing of the D-One in Chichester Harbour or in Hayling Bay, weather permitting.  The real P****R for me was when we got a NO SHOW from DSM a couple of weeks later at Mengeham Rythe SC. The D-One was, however, tested on that day by Alan Henderson for Yachting Life magazine and I am sure that the test report will be available soon.

We are happy to invite anyone, Y&Y, DSM or any magazines or individuals, to try the D-One any time.  If NP or ML want to bring their boats to a test day at the same time they are more than welcome as it will give anyone the opportunity to try a number of different single handers in one outing.  We can work on the venue/venues (easy in Chichester Harbour) and, subject to levels of interest, we will run D-One test days anywhere in the UK by request.

Rodney

Apologies for going off topic but this really does need an answer.

yes mainsheet twisting to the point of actually tying it self in knots here - ooer matron!  Great if you also snag the kite sheet behind the knot and both get pulled into the block during a gybe - don't ask!

The rooster mainsheet is pretty good, the way it works i think is that the outer takes most of the load unlike conventional ropes where the core does this.  That in theory makes it tighter and reduces twisting.  I used it for a little while in my laser but never really made a particularly big difference to twisting because when you have 10+ metres of the stuff in a cockpit that size it tends to naturally tie itself in knots around the mainsheet every time you tack.  Best thing to do is just to keep it tidy up the beat if possible and make sure that before a windward mark you pull an armful of sheet up above your head to get as much free sheet as possible for the big dump as you go round the mark.

My most recent mainsheet was the one that laser now supply which was developed by southern ropes for paul goodison, laser sell a red one but paul goodison uses a yellow version which is actually more grippy, and slightly thinner.  I have never had a problem with using such a thin mainsheet so long as you are wearing good gloves (i wear builders gloves).

To stop a rope twisting the best thing I have found to do is attach both ends in a way which stops them twisting, then the twists cannot get into the rope. So tie the end of it to the kite sheets or in the case of the laser the toestrap. If tied to the kite sheets it also keeps it in the boat and allows you to grab the kitesheets or mainsheet should you drop either of them by simply chasing down one end of the kitesheets which are sat next to you as you're hiking so no need to lean in and slow down and find the mainsheet in the bottom of the boat. This is how the test boat is set up that i used and it seems to work and I didnt have any problems with twisted sheets or strops round tillers. Perhaps elasticated strops will be a bimble to consider when I get my boat.