Curtains for Assymetrics?

Originally posted by JimC Ruscoe, racing ain't watching. Sometimes the outsider sees more of the big picture. I was surprised the first time because it was so contra received opinion, but it was striking just how much reaching speed affected the tactical options on the next beat. Much more so than a run, where there's a tendency to just get bunched up by the gusts.

Eric Twiname in Start to Win strongly advocated watching races to improve your own sailing. You're in good company Jim!

Originally posted by gbr940 I've definitely seen a bigger mix of gender sailing an MPS over iMoths and i'm pretty sure that there are more MPS sailors then Moths at Nationals and even open meetings.

Before we get carried away with this I thought I'd just compare the 2013 Moth Nationals (70boats) with the Musto Skiff Nationals (40 boats) and a quick scan of the results saw no ladies competing at the latter, and 4 at the Moths...

Maybe the MPS open circuit is stronger, but I ran out of interest at that point!

Coming from a traditional class background I find the downwinds are far more tactically interesting in the Moth and you're presented with far more options than the traditional procession style that the slower boats lend themselves to. It's easier to chase puffs and shifts around the course and get away from other boats




Edited by aardvark_issues - 17 Sep 13 at 7:18pm

Most British sailing clubs sail on water which is just too small to make decent W/L racing a viable option, and many of the better assymetric boats are largely too fast for the average puddle club.

As for gender, there are bound to be more female sailors sailing moths than mustos: the moth requires you to be light and nimble and so suits the female frame, the musto I'm sure can be well sailed on technique, but size and strenght will always favour the men and deter the women.

I've owned spinnakers that looked like net curtains.

Originally posted by yellowwelly <snip> our laser fleet battles (at the front) are settled downwind.