Video of the week

I looked into this a while ago. Apparently they are improving the suit design and techniques and they reckon that soon they will be able to land them without a parachute. They think the key will be to land uphill so that you can drop speed off and then land by running when you hit the ground! Very James Bond!

http://video.google.co.uk/videoplay?docid=-78467512897388428 38

Originally posted by Smight at BBSC Do they really need the third man? Couldn't the helm bee on the wire and just sail it like a 14?

I think its mostly a tradition thing, but there's no reason it can't be done two up. When i was in Sydney we took one out two up when it was light enough to be single wireing and it sailed alright.
It's a social thing as well over there, when you sail three up you have three people to share the boat cost with, and three people to drink with in the bar afterwards. Plus it makes taking out a novice (like me ) a lot easier.

I've always thought a 16 would be a good class for coastal clubs over here, they are well behaved in chop, they are pretty durable and the class is fairly restricted development wise so it doesn't become an arms race.
But then a lot of people seem to struggle finding 1 crew let alone 2!

You could say the same thing about the 18's though. When I sailed the 18 I was glad that there were 3 of us!

Because there are already enough classes over here to chose from I would guess. There can't be much of a market for a high performance 3 man twin trapeze boat.