The Evolution of Expense

   My son won Silver Fleet Opens in a old shape, 1980's home built Oppy with no mast adjustment. In fact bugger all anything on it.
BUT - he got stick from the kids, and the Club coach gave him and us stick, saying he couldn't teach him the techniques he needed with an old boat. The club coach knows there stuff, one of there daughters is a pretty well know sailor. What did I do? I laughed and told him that when he can point it in the right direction 95% I'd think about it. Does he sail now? What do you think?

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Jack Sparrow Send Private Message Find Member's Posts Visit Member's Homepage Really should get out more Joined: 08 Feb 05 Location: United Kingdom Online Status: Offline Posts: 2965	Post Options Post Reply Quote Jack Sparrow Report Post Quote Reply Topic: The Evolution of Expense Posted: 06 Mar 15 at 1:25pm
	My son won Silver Fleet Opens in a old shape, 1980's home built Oppy with no mast adjustment. In fact bugger all anything on it. BUT - he got stick from the kids, and the Club coach gave him and us stick, saying he couldn't teach him the techniques he needed with an old boat. The club coach knows there stuff, one of there daughters is a pretty well know sailor. What did I do? I laughed and told him that when he can point it in the right direction 95% I'd think about it. Does he sail now? What do you think?
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Medway Maniac Send Private Message Find Member's Posts Visit Member's Homepage Really should get out more Joined: 13 May 05 Location: United Kingdom Online Status: Offline Posts: 2788	Post Options Post Reply Quote Medway Maniac Report Post Quote Reply Posted: 06 Mar 15 at 12:25pm
	Nothing is too much for the little darlings, is it? But given that they and their sailing are the parents principal hobby, why not? My godson used to take great delight in not using top kit to beat them - winning was all the sweeter. Kit tuning can give (undue) confidence which leads to better performance. Equally, recognising that the kit makes little odds and beating the users while not using it can evidently motivate. Even those who believe it works but don't have it are winners: they have an inbuilt excuse. Glass half full.
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Woodbotherer Send Private Message Find Member's Posts Visit Member's Homepage Posting king Joined: 11 Dec 14 Online Status: Offline Posts: 192	Post Options Post Reply Quote Woodbotherer Report Post Quote Reply Posted: 06 Mar 15 at 11:35am
	Honestly, how many parents are going to wonder if that will make the difference little Henry or Henrietta Hooray needs to push to the front of the fleet, genius bit of marketing, when can we have them for proper boats? It does have the look of windsurfing kit about it and the movement range? All of 2. 5 cms I bet, so totally pointless, would kids even know which way to shift it and when? Who makes it? I did try and get Allen to consider a much more variable thing than that a couple of years back when I was looking for stuff for the V2.
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Rupert Send Private Message Find Member's Posts Really should get out more Joined: 11 Aug 04 Location: Whitefriars sc Online Status: Offline Posts: 8956	Post Options Post Reply Quote Rupert Report Post Quote Reply Posted: 06 Mar 15 at 11:12am
	And then they move to a Laser or Topper, with a mast pot or similar. By the time they are heavy enough for a Finn and on an Olympic campaign (they are all going to do that, aren't they?), and have use for the knowledge gained, they will have forgotten it all! Would anyone like to hazard a guess at what the difference in boat speed in an Oppi is with the mast rake changed?
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JimC Send Private Message Find Member's Posts Visit Member's Homepage Really should get out more Joined: 17 May 04 Location: United Kingdom Online Status: Offline Posts: 6662	Post Options Post Reply Quote JimC Report Post Quote Reply Posted: 06 Mar 15 at 11:02am
	Or fools and their money... In the beginning mast steps consisted of a slot or a hole in which you put the mast step. Cost on a wooden boat - well, about 10 minutes work, lets say £10 at modern labour rates. =================================== Next we went to Adjustable metal racks: 16 quid. And many classes have stopped there. But for proud parents it doesn't stop. Your darlings Oppie can have an adjustable mast step : And this will set you back 29 quid. Getting silly? How about a High performance mast step with low friction and an adjustment scale. Yours for 42 quid, which might take only a second for a company director to earn, but rather more for an ordinary working family. But now there's even more. You can now buy a Optimist megastep For only 78 quid, over 10 hours work on the minimum wage, you can have this doubtless superbly engineered piece of gear on your kids Oppie. But I ask you, will they be having any more fun than they would if the class abolished all this ridiculous excess and went back to a piece of wood with a hole in? They're probably among the worst offenders in terms of what the rules allow as opposed to what the boat needs, but by no means the only ones. The trouble is its very hard for class administrators. There will always be people pushing how much better the class would be with this or that, but please, retain some damn balance... Edited by JimC - 06 Mar 15 at 11:15am