Best lightwind singlehander, heavyish helm

Burghfield allows 2-handers to be sailed one up .... It was originally permitted for those whose crew were absent for any sortof genuine reason - it happens.   However this concession to keep more people on the water has been rather stretched in the last couple of years in that some now regularly choose not to carry crew if the wind it light.... but quickly get them back when the wind picks up !  

Very naturally the rest of the fast handicap fleet rather enjoy those days when the wind increases during a race .... but the wrong call to dismiss the crew has already been made.   Well of course you would as well, we are not the only ones .... so don't deny it. 

Also from memory I thought ALL such boats should have a 40 point adjustment local PN.  

Mike L.

I am one of those pesky 12s which single hands when the wind is light, and first and foremost we have separate results for single handing, they are not merged with normal two up which often means we no longer qualify in series. My partner and l both love sailing 12s and when it is light enjoy sailing against each other as much as against anyone else. As mike said, we have a standard rule which should knock pys by a somewhat course number of 40 to any boat that single hands when it is a double hander. In fact the result of this is that the faster the boat you single hand the less the percentage penalty you get. Personally l think the it should be a proportional py reduction based on the double handed py.
Why do l sail it singke handed? Because l love the boat and the challenge of sailing it in all formats and my crew also loves helming but has a wrist injury which means she can't cope with helming in heavier winds.


Edited by Jeremyc - 02 Oct 14 at 10:27pm

My own view is that while double-handers in single mode should be tolerated at clubs so that numbers are maintained and more people get to sail when otherwise they would stay away.   BUT they should always be excluded from any series prizes/results as they are not being used as the designer intended or the class itself promotes and is based upon .....

As Jim points out the long term effect will also be to distort the core PN of the class(es) doing it as they are only double-handed when the conditons preferentially suit double-handing.   

Mike L.

There are many classes where the class rules state the number of people on board for racing. Of course, just like the Laser with a Rooster sail, it is easy enough to say it is simply a different class if anyone cares, which has an TN based on the 2 handed class's PN. Effectively, if you have a club that allows multiple boats to count for a series, then you'll be OK counting singlehanded in the series, if you have a one boat per series rule, then you won't.

Does anyone really leave a crew who is dying to go sailing on the shore? Sounds like a great way to lose a crew. From what I've seen, once the wind is approaching zero, it is more likely the crew will abandon ship if they can get away with it.