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maxibuddah View Drop Down
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Post Options Post Options   Quote maxibuddah Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Topic: Halo
    Posted: 10 Oct 13 at 10:17am
a well sailed blaze will stuff a well sailed phantom in big wind. only know that on pond sailing at chew valley. on the sea I don't know, what's a blaze like downwind in big seas? a phantom is relatively easy. a genuine question this.

I moved from a 300 to a phantom 10 years ago and while I miss the formers fun the phantom can still do that but I find that to be fun offwind it's hard work upwind.
Everything I say is my opinion, honest
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iGRF View Drop Down
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Post Options Post Options   Quote iGRF Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 10 Oct 13 at 10:20am
Originally posted by Peaky

I think you must be the only person in the universe who thinks that the Phantom excels in stronger winds than the Blaze.


Must be the benefit of having a windsurfer sailing it then, but he gets round when lots of others don't in ugly conditions. The Blaze is a terrible boat in a following sea down here, even a big heavy lad sat right back on the label struggles to keep the nose from ploughing into the back of the next wave, whereas the Phantom loves it and becomes a surfing demon. I can't imagine what an even bigger rig is going to do to that slab nose.

Don't get me wrong here I'm talking about two individuals on one bit of dicey water, I like the Blaze and recommend it at every turn, but that doesn't mean it's a better boat than say a Phantom, maybe because a Phantom aint in my remit I view it with Rose coloured glasses, but I'm just reporting what I see.

As it happens the Blaze guy has finished quite well in the series this year but that's more to do with the handicap penalisation of the Phantom and the relative advantage the Blaze has of going unnoticed by the chatterati that surround the PY system.

I also understand why on water like that large puddle up nr reading who's name escapes me a bigger sail would come in handy, but commercially if I were them, I'd be getting a small kite attached to the single hander version of that icon rather than pissing about with another version of a flawed Topper design that's past its sell by date..

Edited by iGRF - 10 Oct 13 at 10:21am
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iGRF View Drop Down
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Post Options Post Options   Quote iGRF Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 10 Oct 13 at 10:28am
Originally posted by maxibuddah

what's a blaze like downwind in big seas? a phantom is relatively easy. a genuine question this.

That's where the Phantom scores, the Blaze often comes to a dead halt running into the back of the wave sailing in our particular short but steep wavelength, the same rocker that gets it planing upwind on flat water ensures the tail stays up and the nose goes down. The Phantom rocker which gives it lightwind advantage also provides excellent hi wind and wave advantage downhill, sure it's not quite as fast uphill but downhill capsizes tend to be pretty catastrophic and time consuming to recover from, so the Phantom wins on handling.
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yellowwelly View Drop Down
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Post Options Post Options   Quote yellowwelly Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 10 Oct 13 at 10:44am
'The Phantom wins on handling'.... hmm, didn't Mr Hunt win a Phant nationals not so long ago, wending around the gybe marks as it was a bit fresh at the ferry?  

Didn't a load of Phant sailors pussy out of the Lyme nationals as the sea was running a tad large (I don't blame them, it's hard work on flat water in a breeze, nevermind with a decent wave to contend with- at least they've got the strength of character to know when something's not going to be any fun!)

Graeme- you are showing your inexperience here mate.... and Dougal, looking forward to your report in due course.  The fact that you can sail the Halo at the pond one minute, then pop a Blaze sail up for an open the next makes it quite an interesting proposition for when time may allow more travelling for sailing. 
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iGRF View Drop Down
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Post Options Post Options   Quote iGRF Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 10 Oct 13 at 10:55am
Originally posted by yellowwelly

Graeme- you are showing your inexperience here mate....


Nope just reporting what goes on at our club where we have no choice but to learn how to handle the sea, so when 'they' dingho sailors come down here to things like the Man of Kent, another windy wavey event where the Phantom did well and other stuff didn't(Blighted by the fact Dumb and Dumberer won overall), just because you hold a Nationals and declare a champion it doesn't mean the best sailor won now does it?
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yellowwelly View Drop Down
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Post Options Post Options   Quote yellowwelly Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 10 Oct 13 at 11:04am
ah yes, the Hythe bubble.... where real sailors live, and the rest of us wouldn't stand a chance... those that could even get off the beach that is.
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Rupert View Drop Down
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Post Options Post Options   Quote Rupert Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 10 Oct 13 at 11:05am
Originally posted by yellowwelly

ah yes, the Hythe bubble.... where real sailors live, and the rest of us wouldn't stand a chance... those that could even get off the beach that is.


I believe Yoda sails there, but can't get near the front of the fleet.
Firefly 2324, Puffin 229, Minisail 3446 Mirror 70686
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yellowwelly View Drop Down
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Post Options Post Options   Quote yellowwelly Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 10 Oct 13 at 11:08am
nor Bilbo... even with his magic ring that he showed us at the FOM.
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iGRF View Drop Down
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Post Options Post Options   Quote iGRF Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 10 Oct 13 at 11:44am
Originally posted by Rupert


Originally posted by yellowwelly

ah yes, the Hythe bubble.... where real sailors live, and the rest of us wouldn't stand a chance... those that could even get off the beach that is.
I believe Yoda sails there, but can't get near the front of the fleet.

Yoda would help you get off the beach..

If only to film the result on his mobile when you try to come ashore
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Post Options Post Options   Quote Guests Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 10 Oct 13 at 11:52am
Graeme, unless I am wrong, I don't think you had been over on the dark side for very long before having your Blaze and I am sure you are now a much better dinghy sailor now than you were then. 

My first dinghy after a 10 year lay off was an rs300, a good choice for sailing in big wind and chop on the sea as a born again dinghy sailor....er no. Having got to a point where I could get round the course and actually win a race took a long time and I subsequently decided it wasnt for me and sold it. At the time I was a poor club sailor and certainly blamed the boat for every nose dive, windward capsize and failed tack into irons. 

However, whilst it probably isnt ideally suited to my venue and it probably still wouldnt be my ideal boat, 14 years on, I am a half decent dinghy sailor and realise it was more my ineptitude than the boat.  I now understand boat handling to a much higher level and how much impact of every move and control line tweak can affect the boat. 

The Blaze fleet at our club is fairly consistent in size and the sailors are universal in their views that its a pretty much vice free boat. Can you stick the nose in, can you make it wallow like a pig down wind, can it capsize - yes of course, but "perhaps your just doin it wrong" (Point Break ref). One of the guys who sails a blaze with us is  a lightweight, but always finishes close to the top in the nationals and he keeps the boat super smooth and fast up and downwind. It never stuffs, wallows and I have never seen the bottom of his boat so its not the boat  Wacko
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