Weta, fastest boat on the water!

New revised Weta introduced for 2018 with larger 9.3 SqM square top mainsail (compared with 8.3SqM pin top original), recut bi-radial sails, lightweight foam-core hull construction and custom colours.

You still have to work to keep the boat upright (flat is fast) in a Weta but unlike most non-trapeze monohulls, no abs of steel are required and, unlike trapeze boats, it won't leave you crippled from compressed vertebrae. Here's some footage from the World Masters Games where 50 Wetas competed (30 sailed solo) with crew ages from 35-85 - and two Paralympians finished in the top 20. 

There aren't many family-friendly dinghies that will go over 20 knots and can be sailed/raced with or without crew in almost any conditions. It has built-in stability and there's never a death roll to worry about - a (very mature) Weta sailor in Scotland(!) survived a 57 knot gust which capsized  the fleet but (with the optional furling jib) he was the only one who stayed upright. OTOH, a 13yo beat the Weta fleet in a Championship race in Queensland last weekend.

I sail in a mixed fleet on Sydney Harbour and at the pointy end with the Flying Dutchman and 505 and usually beat them in anything over 15 knots usually by a big margin in winds gusting over 25. This is one of my races.

It's a great all-weather boat. Mostly you just sit on the floats upwind in a blow which gives you incredible leverage - and there is an optional chest harness available which supports your torso - great for long-distance races (Wetas have completed the 300 mile Everglades Challenge) or sailing solo when there's no support boat around. In the light stuff the new SQ sail helps to keep you moving and you can also use the flat-cut gennaker as a "code zero"  - you can't point that high but you can still keep moving past the flip-flopping monohulls.

I've raced solo in winds over 35 knots and even though it will often recover from impossible angles, I capsized when I got wiped out by a big gust with the main cleated (doh!). But all you do to right it is to undo a port on the back of a float to flood it and it comes up like a monohull. However,  unlike a monohull, the flooded float prevents it from turtling again. Then you sail upwind until the water pours out of the flooded float, lean back to do up the port and you're back in business - it takes about 5 minutes with no outside assistance required. 

I think "visual elegance" is subjective - think of it as a skiff with stabilisers. Trapeze boats were seen as ugly back in the day and foiling moths aren't exactly beautiful. But I appreciate good design and the use of modern materials because it means I can spend more time on the water and don't have to break my back to do so - the heaviest component you need to lift is the 15 Kg float while inserting the arms into the main hull and the carbon mast only weighs 6Kg. See the rigging video below

As for a foiling Weta, they developed a prototype 8 years ago but decided the market wasn't big enough, the stresses on the design would be much greater - especially when you have the inevitable crash - and the insurance liabilities even greater. And then you need somewhere to store it - the Weta packs down to the space of a Laser and takes 20 minutes to rig.

There are now foiling tri's but I doubt sales of the F101 and Mantis have been huge. Personally I think the UFO is a great foiling trainer but anyone who is serious about solo foiling gets a Moth or A-Class or for a 2-handed foiler gets a Nacra or Phantom - everything else has struggled to get any traction in the market.

But even in Australia, where I now live, and we generally have more water space compared to the UK, the number of foiling boats is small and in the UK it's probably even more so  - apart from the Moth fleet.

There's a different handicap rating for solo vs 2-up - if the fleet is large enough, there's a separate division otherwise there's usually a separate prize. The French fleet all sail two-up because they're generally lighter than the Brits, Aussies, Kiwis, and Yanks. At the World Masters Games in 2017,  20 of the 50 entries were sailed 2-up.

Usually it's quicker to sail solo but in winds over around 23 knots, it helps to have a second pair of hands and to have weight both out and back for the offwind leg. At the 2014 US-nationals which were sailed in winds strong winds, Olympic silver medalist, multihull guru and sailing hall of fame member, Randy Smyth was paired as last minute crew with a lightweight Weta sailor and still cleaned up - he's won it 4 times now!

Here's an extreme example - 42 miles up a Colorado river, against the 3+ knot current, with winds gusting over 37 knots. The Weta came 4th against a fleet of sportsboats and was the only boat to keep the kite up the whole way. It was this video that interested me in the Weta having looked at solo skiffs, Moths etc  - all of which entailed a steep learning curve and too much swimming.
 

Hi-res version available here