Dinghy Development for the mature sailor

The old plates of meat I think.....

For someone who clearly has no real idea what he should be sailing, with a tarty picture of a southern hemisphere boat that rarely even crosses the Equator as an avatar, you seem to have a very strong opinion of people who you have never met!

It was my understanding that forums were for sensible discusion on wide ranging fields not character assassinaton.

I would be delighted to know what on basis you been form forming your judgements of classes and the people who sail them. Have you ever attended a Fastsail event or an event for one of the fastsail classes, do you even know an FD sailor? Oh do you even have a boat?

If the FD is slow and skiffs are fast, I'm confused! The 2004 PY for the FD was 878 making it faster than the majority of 'skiffs' currently on the market including the B14. Oh and it was designed 50 years ago so 'skiff' level performance is nothing new!

If you want an argument on why you should sail an FD in preference to to other classes, try the abiltiy to be sailed by a wide range of ages (16 - 60+ at worlds), very high perfomance, circa 100 boats at worlds/ europeans, good sea boat (unlike all skiffs), can be sailed in a decent breeze (class races in 30+ knot safely) and very high level of sailors including a good number of Olympians.

But anyway, I did not really start wiriting this to sell the FD to you, I know along with many other people that the class will survive quite probably for another 50 years. My reason for being here is to hopefully see some kind of apology ofr the rude comments you have made about some of the individuals in the FD class.

Oh, one last thing, have you ever mentioned anywhere in here what you actually sail? Given your attitude to other classes, I'm sure there are a lot of people who would be quite amused to find out!

As a final word of advice, think a little more about what you write, I'm the first who has decided to take offence, but at this rate you might find I'm the first of many!