New ladies skiff

 

You'll notice that I was very careful in my selection of words and made no reference at all to the actual boat that was chosen in the mens 'skiff Trials' at Garda. I'm a great believer in the phrase 'the record books show' and in this case they show that the 49er was chosen. BUT - my comments reflect my interest in not so much the choice of dinghy, but in the process that underpins the selection. The other difference is that I'm not trying to draw inferences from a magazine report - or even quoting from them, but these are my own first hand observations as one who was there (ditto Quiberon/Performance Singlehanders and Hyeres/Indication event womens skiffs).

 

This topic of recent Trials is therefore something of a pet subject for me and having been present, feel that I'm well able to comment in my own right - and have done in a number of articles.

 

One of my observations would be on how the process has changed: back in the days of the Singlehanded Trials (1965-68) the backers/designers/builders rocked up with their boat and with a chosen helm and that was that, there was no boat swapping nor independance in the sailing.  So, someone with a potentially good boat but who was only an average (or even good) helm, could come up against Elvstrom or Uwe Mares - an Olympic Medallist in the making! This 'rent a helm' played quite a big part in the outcome of the selection process, as because there wasn't any swapping of boats, a good helm in a lesser design could still (and did) feature.

 

Now regarding those Trials...as I get around various sailing events, I'm trying to build up my own library of 'audio histories' - if I can interview one of the movers and shakers from way back when, I will  - capturing their thoughts where possible on Video, if not on audio (sometimes sadly just in writing - , you have to take your chances when offered!).

 

So, I have an indepth store of knowledge from the primary sources - the people who were there. I've interviewed participants  not only in the UK, but in Europe and Australia  too, so have a pretty good feel for what really went on. 

As regards the 2nd set of Trials (La Baule), if you think that in an almost exclusively light airs series, that the prototype Contender was the fastest boat, then I think you're amiss somewhere. Don't forget,  Bob Miller, who was never one for the maths, had got the sail plan wrong, leaving the boat markedly light on sail area! 

By now the IYRU had relaxed the rule on trapezes, 

with the result that many of the entries were doubled up - so you'd have a sliding seat version and a trapeze version of the same boat. (Sadly, Elvstrom didn't compete at La Baule with the Trapez, so what would have been an amazing side show in the competition - Trapez V Contender, never took place: Having not competed in La Baule, he wasn't eligible for Medemblik)

 

These were still early days in trapeze techniques and from the interviews I held with helms who were competing at all of the the events, in the light to medium airs the sliding seat was seen as a preferable option to the trapeze. Being able to sit 1/3 out was so much easier that the quasimodo position,  hunched up on the side deck, that is still to this day the bane of Contender sailors.

 

In the end, the IYRU struck lucky, they had breeze late on in the Medemblik Trials and this allowed the Contender to show it's paces. Even then, it was not straight forward, as there were boats that displayed the potential for superior upwind performance, but off the wind the Contender raced away, which was just what the IYRU wanted.  By then it was clear to all that the Australian boat was the 'chosen one', even when the results still suggested that the event was wide open. 

It was so obvious in fact that on the penultimate day, after sailing, most of the other 'teams' stopped work on sorting their boats and instead went for a 'knickerbocker glory' eating competition. This was won by the late and great Peter Bateman (who went to to win the Fireball Worlds), who ate so many that he was too sick to sail the final day. So, the IYRU got the boat they wanted, only to then marginalize it under pressure from the widespread powerbase of the Finn - and the rest is, as they say history.

But there is one final point  re the Contender- seeing that you raised the name of Jack Knights. Now I knew Jack, I'd not go so far as to say 'well', but enough to be on first name terms. After the selection of the Contender, Jack was put on the International Launch Committee for the new class, a task that he managed in parallel with that of importing boats into the UK.  He was part of a group that ran demo events and races around the country, one of which was held at Weston. After the event, he was at my parents house, along with Tim Hockin, Dinghy Mast supremo at Proctors (these two, together with Paul Nevard at Banks and the irrepressible Freddie Gale) were very much the driving force behind getting the class established. In the robust discussions about the boat that day, Jack was clear that he was more than mindful of the Achillies Heel of the boat - in particular the light airs performance. A life long supporter of one design sailing, Jack held the view that as long as you're sailing against other Contenders this is okay, as you're all hunched up and bloody uncomfortable together, a valid point as even now, with far better rig control, this is still the downside of sailing what has to be still one of the best dinghies there is.

 

PS - A Class cats...now until recently, I still sailed sometimes with people who were at Sheppy in 1965, so again I'm drawing and making my comments on what I would class as 'primary source' material.  The australian boat was more sophisticated and at that stage more advanced that the Unicorn - which is reflected in the Series results.  But again, there was no swapping around of helms as you'd get today, so someone who knew his boat well and could exploit the performance was always going to be well placed. Still, the view, from people who were actually at Sheppy, was that the Unicorn was the 'right' boat  - as events went on to prove!

 

Today, the Trials are so much more meaningful, only to come a distant 2nd place to the goings on in the Committee Rooms some time later!

 

Dougal