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Weta, fastest boat on the water!
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yellowwelly View Drop Down
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    Posted: 15 Nov 13 at 9:11am
Originally posted by Nipper

Originally posted by yellowwelly


The 'sacrifice', if you can call it that, is that we don't utilise the local club for any family activities and I'm unlikely to introduce my kids to dinghy racing.


And that exactly sums up the problem that most UK clubs are facing today.

It seems ironic that today's sailing gear is so much better than it was 30 years ago, but less people are sailing, with the cold being the main reason why partners and children are not interested.

yes, the irony isn't lost on me.  I started with a Gul wetsuit bought from Brentwood Windsurfing, just inside the M25 on the A12... it was crap, it didn't work and it took ages to put on as it was a zipless design and you had to roll the thing on like a giant sock... even that was bit new school, shorts and t-shirt and a spray suit was more common, along with a guernsey and bobble hat in the winter.  iirc you were judged by what brand of beer your arse happened to be promoting.

I guess creature comforts have made our society a bit softer, but at the end of the day I'm not going to force something on them all that they find thoroughly miserable on all but the three days of decent sunshine (with wind) that we get in this country.  
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Posts: 40 		Post Options Post Options   Quote Nipper Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 15 Nov 13 at 9:42am
[

Or you're treating the wind and water with respect and making appropriate decisions based on that.  It's about how you approach it.  (My dinghy cruising credentials include Plymouth to Weymouth as a 17 year old (supported) and cross channel as a 16 year old (very supported).  I'd like to repeat that, or similar, with the family someday.
[/QUOTE]
I agree with you 100%, and good luck in repeating your adventures with your family.
 
My response was against JackSparrow's assertion that UK dinghy sailors were small minded and hence didn't embrace dinghy cruising, and by inference, could not see the virtues of the Weta.
 
The Weta might be a good cruising boat, BUT you cannot escape the fact that distance cruising in the UK because of all the weather/coastline/temperature issues means that it is only ever going to be a niche activity, and therfore the boat market to feed that activity is going to be relatively small.
 
Its not smallmindedness, its reality
 
 
39 years of dinghy racing and still waiting to peak.
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Posts: 40 		Post Options Post Options   Quote Nipper Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 15 Nov 13 at 10:28am
Originally posted by yellowwelly

Originally posted by Nipper

Originally posted by yellowwelly


The 'sacrifice', if you can call it that, is that we don't utilise the local club for any family activities and I'm unlikely to introduce my kids to dinghy racing.


And that exactly sums up the problem that most UK clubs are facing today.

It seems ironic that today's sailing gear is so much better than it was 30 years ago, but less people are sailing, with the cold being the main reason why partners and children are not interested.

yes, the irony isn't lost on me.  I started with a Gul wetsuit bought from Brentwood Windsurfing, just inside the M25 on the A12... it was crap, it didn't work and it took ages to put on as it was a zipless design and you had to roll the thing on like a giant sock... even that was bit new school, shorts and t-shirt and a spray suit was more common, along with a guernsey and bobble hat in the winter.  iirc you were judged by what brand of beer your arse happened to be promoting.

I guess creature comforts have made our society a bit softer, but at the end of the day I'm not going to force something on them all that they find thoroughly miserable on all but the three days of decent sunshine (with wind) that we get in this country.  
GUL didn't even exist when I started. Dad and I got our wetsuits from a shop opposite Eastleigh Railway station, whose name escapes me. As wetsuits were really expensive, he bought me a ready made 2 piece suit in 5mm, that fitted where it touched (room to grow) and then he bought himself a wet suit kit, which he then made on the kitchen table. The suit was unlined, and it used to take about 20mins to put on in a cloud of talc. powder
 
The following season was then spent with us both walking like Robots as your arms and legs just sprung back when you bent them, and Dad continually regluing the suit back together . ( An arm once fell off when he was getting changed)
 
Like you, we were in the minority in wearing wetsuits, and we sailed on the sea from April to November wearing bobble hats knitted by my Aunty, and I cannot remember feeling cold. One piece overalls with beer mats were still 2 years away.
 
Ahh the good old days.
 
 
39 years of dinghy racing and still waiting to peak.
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Jack Sparrow View Drop Down
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Posts: 2965 		Post Options Post Options   Quote Jack Sparrow Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 15 Nov 13 at 11:21am
I started in wellington boots with wool socks, a wooly jumper and my granddads Kapok WW1 naval life preserver ( which didn't fit ). Wet suits you pussies!
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Posts: 2003 		Post Options Post Options   Quote yellowwelly Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 15 Nov 13 at 11:35am
wetsuits that don't work.... mmmmm, the bitter/sweet feeling of warming yourself in your own piss, just to get even colder, and itchy and smelly.  And today's kids complain about the humiliation of wearing a cock logo on their thigh....

And whichever clown it was that said to get into one in a hot shower was a complete moron. I have never been colder in my life than walking out of a changing room in a damp wetsuit, only to have the biting cold freeze the suit to my skin, then to go 'tacking on the whistle' in winter training after a chilly launch....  really, it's child cruelty and I'm beginning to sound like Fuller.
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Post Options Post Options   Quote Guests Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 15 Nov 13 at 11:45am
Cruising around the Bay of Islands or Able Tasman national park in NZ is a different league to any sailing I've done here, so i can fully see why people in NZ would want a Weta to explore those areas. I'd love to spend a few days sailing around Windemere or the Broads, but can't convince the family it would be fun
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Posts: 6496 		Post Options Post Options   Quote iGRF Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 15 Nov 13 at 12:26pm
You've got to do the Broads, even if you take a motor cruiser, our kids have always enjoyed it.
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Posts: 6496 		Post Options Post Options   Quote iGRF Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 15 Nov 13 at 12:31pm
Originally posted by yellowwelly

wetsuits that don't work.... mmmmm, the bitter/sweet feeling of warming yourself in your own piss, just to get even colder, and itchy and smelly.  And today's kids complain about the humiliation of wearing a cock logo on their thigh....
And whichever clown it was that said to get into one in a hot shower was a complete moron. I have never been colder in my life than walking out of a changing room in a damp wetsuit, only to have the biting cold freeze the suit to my skin, then to go 'tacking on the whistle' in winter training after a chilly launch....  really, it's child cruelty and I'm beginning to sound like Fuller.


Glad to see I'm getting through to you, you'll be realising the handicap system is an equipment system next, as to 'tacking on the whistle' I used to watch that up at Grafham, as pointless an exercise as ever there was.
And standing in the shower in a wetsuit only works if it's a total smooth skin and you dry the outside of the suit before going out. Anyone who has a cock on his thigh is... well I leave you to fill that one in, no point in further aggravating she who must be irritated constantly..

Edited by iGRF - 15 Nov 13 at 12:32pm
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Jack Sparrow View Drop Down
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Posts: 2965 		Post Options Post Options   Quote Jack Sparrow Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 15 Nov 13 at 12:56pm
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Post Options Post Options   Quote Guests Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 15 Nov 13 at 1:26pm
I'm a big fan of Tenby, Jack. I don't know the western isles, but I don't kbnow how easy it would be to get a Weta there? Where's the middle picture?
But the bay of islands is warm as well as gorgeous - paradise!
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