Buzz Singlehanded Project

Rick,

All of the pictures on the website were taken on two different days by professional photographers except for a few that I took.  They were taken either on Puget Sound or The Gorge.

I'm 61 years old and sail the boat in a wide range of weather conditions--sometimes gusty and 20 knots.  Your are right if you are suggesting that this boat is a handful above 25 knots--something for the younger guys with more balls than me.

Remember that the I-14 carries about the sail area of the 49er but has only a 72" beam (4 inches narrower than the Swift).  The Beiker 5's and the new Henderson I-14's are as fast as top 49ers and the boat is 30" shorter with 30" less beam.  I point this out because I believe that too many sailors think that skiff design is simply a matter of adding sail area, righting moment, length, and reducing weight.  While these are certainly some of the factors, I believe they've been grossly overplayed.

The Swift is easier to gybe in 20 knots of breeze than a 49er (I've sailed both a lot).  The reason is that the main remains cleated during the gybe at its' downwind position (about 18" off the centerline).  You feel no impact whatsoever when the boom comes across unless you've rotated so slow that the boat comes off the plain (you really have to screw up for this to happen).  One other factor is that the guy with the helm knows exactly what is happening with 100% of the crew and can adjust the rate of rotation accordingly.  The final consideration is that 100% of the beam is use during gybes, hoists, and douses which is not always the case on boats with open racks (the Swift has an auto-cleating and uncleating system on the spin halyard that permits hoisting and dousing from the wings--keeps the boat heated up a bit for stability).

Without the auto sheeting system that plays both sails (jib and main) simultaneously, it would be unreasonable to carry this much sail area to weather single-handed--no matter how wide the racks.  This system only works because we've spent a great deal of time doing R&D on the relationship between jib and mainsheet play and developed a system that keeps both sails in sync right through a broad reach (while sailing with two sails). The rig and sail plan were designed around this R&D.  If the wind were always exactly 20-25 knots with no shifts or puffs, I suspect that we would find that many of our skiffs are substantial underpowered.  That is not the real world (at least not where I sail) and so we were forced to either go cat rigged with a small kite or find a way to marry these two sails that sheet at very different non-linear rates.

As for Julian:  Julian was helping with the R&D on th Vis project when he sailed and wrote the review on the Swift.  I had not met him prior to that except through some email (I was the US 49er class President at the time).  To see him get in the Swift in 15 knots of breeze and look like he'd been sailing it for years was a sight to see.  He is a brilliant skiff sailor--single--double--or tripple handed.  Turns out that nearly every 49er sailor that has sailed the Swift is shocked by how easy it is to sail.  Our local Musto sailor also found the Swift to be very easy to sail.

In the end, skiff design breakthroughs have always come from those who've violated the known rules.  The new Henderson I-14 is a huge departure from previous I-14's and violates most of the "known rules" while doing extremely well in a very hot fleet.  None of the I-14's from the Beiker 4 on comply with previous thinking on how to make a skiff go fast. These guys (Bieker and the other 14 designers) are continually making exciting discoveries and it's a pleasure to know and sail with them.     

Bram

None to date.  The black and white on the "rules" page was taken in the Gorge in 18 knots.  It was hard to get photographers to take their gear out in my 14 foot Avon in the salt water of Puget Sound when the waves are up.  I hope to get down to The Gorge again and get some good photos and video.  This is river water that has very little fetch so you don't need to have a 25 foot photo boat to keep the photo gear out of the spray.  Also, I may sit out a Thursday evening race some time soon and talk the Club whaler driver into taking me and my camera gear to shoot some pictures.  The thought of choosing to spend the eveing getting the crap beat out of me in a whaler instead of sailing my Swift somehow has not been that appealing to date.

 We are a new class and just held our first regatta 4 months ago.  We will continue to hold our regattas in medium air venues until we get more of our sailors up to speed, so it's not likely that any "big air" regatta photos will be posted for a year or two.

Bram 

Rick,

I will be trying one in a few months and cannot wait! I think the best way for you to satisfy your curiosity is to find a Swift in the UK and have a look or better yet a sail of it! It is all very well to theorise on the internet but the only way to really find out is to have a bash for yourself.

By the way, I was out sailing the 59er in 18knots today, the first time in a few weeks in any real breeze! Wow I love sailing skiffs downwind, we got some awesome rides.   

Just to let people know,

I've chnaged my Buzz Single-handed web address.

You can now see it at:

http://www.restfulplace.co.uk/buzz/

Best wishes,

Doug