New ladies skiff

Originally posted by Skiffman sailed this a few weeks ago along with the 49er FX (baby rig 49er)

And..... you can't dangle the carrot like that and say nothing:-)

Originally posted by NickA Didn't we have a rash of "ladies skiffs" a few years back ...... none of which one sees out on the water.

Not really... ISAF did a weird kinda semi trials at which the main boats IIRC, were three Cherubs (as one design proposals), the 29erXX, a 14 and an RS800. So all those classes are still active and the 29erXX does seem tohave sold a few boats now, but you're right, there do not appear to be thousands of women worldwide all anxious to sail skiffs.

Originally posted by Chris 249 Rogue, there's a difference between being xenophobic,and between actually looking at undeniable historical facts and modern evidence to answer a question when it is asked.

Don't worry chap- I was being facetious.... However, I guess now that as the IOC and ISAF are now terming the entire project 'women's skiff' the standard lexicon of sailing has 'officially' shifted the meaning of the word along to the 90's ubercool marketing speak of Laser, Topper, Bethwaite et al. Give it a flat bottom, open deck, asymmetric and a trapeze or two... boom, you've got a skiff and it will obviously be a) far more interesting to watch b) more challenging to sail and c) much cooler and attract loads more people into the sport.   (yep, being facetious again... sorry)

Language morphs over time and geography- it's just one of those curious little things about the human experience that anthropology has yet to find a really good explanation for.

As for this boat- well it meets the design brief well enough on paper, will it make sailing better to watch... doubt it personally, but then I find most sailing pretty uninteresting and uninspiring to watch, so wtf do I know?

i do think that the golf analogy is a bit rubbish. if there was only one type of equipment, for argument call it a laser, i wouldnt still be sailing

Originally posted by Chris 249 If I hear the "skiffs are the future of sailing" crud (which always seems to be the underlying concept behind the women's skiff) again one more time, I'll scream. Even where they have been around for 100+ years, the Skiff classes remain restricted to one small area of the country and are (2 fleets of 14s and some 9ers apart) all but extinct. And ISAF and the media keep on talking about the greater media appeal of skiffs, but if that is so why haven't we been shown some evidence in the form of higher ratings since the 9er came in, or higher ratings for the 9er events? As the UK shows, there's no big move towards skiff types even in the most advanced market in the world. Great boats, but they just don't interest enough people. It's just one more step away from the sport being inclusive and friendly to the average sailor and beginners IMHO, and that's a bad thing for any sport. Sports like football, golf, swimming, athletics and cycling make the pros use what the average competitor uses and they are vastly more popular than sailing, so obviously they are doing it right. PS- Rogue, there's a difference between being xenophobic,and between actually looking at undeniable historical facts and modern evidence to answer a question when it is asked.

Edited by Chris 249 - 19 Oct 11 at 9:43pm