New RS700

Well its new to me... I collect it from LDC tomorrow

I am a pretty good laser sailor and have done lots of other sailing too so not really a beginner... but I will be a beginner in the 7

The last time I trapezed was when I was 12 and that was crewing a 3000, 6 years have gone by since then and now I need to get back on the wire, with tiller in my hand, and a kite sheet.  I bought the boat on an impulse buy because I got a deal on it because at LDC they normally service the boats before they sell them again but this one only just came in so I turned it around and will be taking it away without a service, instead I get all the gelcoat and stuff to repair it for free. I also realised that buying a reconditioned boat would be pointless as I expect to put more dents in it learning to sail it that it already has!

I hear tacking is a bit hard but I have a lot of experience of a lot of different boats so I expect that I will be able to feel this and sort it out pretty quick, or am I wrong?

Obviously getting used to being back on a wire will take a bit of time but my balance is alright and I dont mind getting wet so I think I'll get back into that fine.

What other things should someone like me expect to encounter on the learning curve of a 700?  I dont want to be caught out when I go for my first sail with some little fiddly thing that I could have sorted or expected/anticipated earlier.

Obviously this is a strange request in that ive never sailed the boat before but I'm sure there are some tips out there somewhere!

David

Lots of reviews of K16 here:
http://www.yachtsandyachting.com/products/product.asp?id=224 &c=36

Originally posted by Guest#260 Buy the K16 vid; it's done on the Musto but many of the techniques will translate. http://www.mustoskiff.com/dvd/index.htm

I have a copy and learned a few things for sailing my F16 single handed.

Except you cannot play the mainsheet and kite at the same time on the 16 as the sheet loads are too high (even with a 10:1 mainsheet system).

From what I hear you have to steer quickly into the gybe and as soon as the main goes then you stick it back downwind... this may solve your problem but i wouldnt know because i havent sailed it yet! sorting the kite out aswell as this may be a different issue!

And im going to ignore the advice to keep the kite down on my first sail, the only way to learn is to do it! so why wait!? I cant stand those awful club sailors who dont put their kites up or even go out when its above 15 knots! if you cant do it then get a boat with less rig! I am secretly expecting to get the hang of this fairly quickly because im pretty fearless when it comes to sailing, the main reason for people capsizing is being too afraid to throw the boat around and go for it! my view is if your going to capsize then you might as well make it look as fast and as difficult to sail as possible while you're doing it!

I will see how i get on but unfortunately wont be able to sail the boat for a week and a half because of my exams. I want to but the rents wont let me

ok, that was from a rather unreliable source so didnt believe it myself really!  when you're going that quickly you cant steer using large tiller movements obviously but am i right in thinking that steering back downwind slightly as the main comes across is right to stop it pushing the boat up as it fills? that seems to be the case in most classes that i've sailed!