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That new wooden Merlin |
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Topic: That new wooden Merlin Posted: 30 Jun 10 at 12:20pm |
The thing I found with my NS mast is that when you have the mast an sail tuned properly it is very fast, but when it is wrong it is very slow. This is because the boat has very small sails and relies on the efficiency of the mast to get the same performance as a boat with normal size sails. If you lose the efficiency through bad trim, you go as slow as a boat with very small sails. Also, as soon as the wind is far enough behind that you are sailing on drag rather than lift, you are slow again due to lack of sail area. If you get it right though they are very fast. You can get more lift and less drag, which equate to higher speed and closer pointing. Close reaching is the NS14s real forte. I firmly believe that you can get as good gust response with a wing mast, but done differently. In fact, because the mast is much stiffer in one axis than the other (talking NS style wing, not Tasar style), the amount of rotation effects the amount of sideways bend, in some ways you have more control over gust response - after all, when reaching you don't really want a gust responsive mast. But when you can pick your sail area, it is makes sense to put bigger sails on a (nice) stick than develop a complex wing. |
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Rupert
Really should get out more Joined: 11 Aug 04 Location: Whitefriars sc Online Status: Offline Posts: 8956 |
Post Options Quote Reply Posted: 30 Jun 10 at 12:47pm |
Market niches may be over rated - I happen to like simple 2 sailed boats, and have sailed Fireflies all my life. Doesn't mean I wouldn't be interested in a faster 2 sailed boat if a great one came out. That puts them in the same niche in my own personal market! |
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Firefly 2324, Puffin 229, Minisail 3446 Mirror 70686
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Post Options Quote Reply Posted: 30 Jun 10 at 12:58pm |
Good point. Its odd though, because I had never previously considered any two sail boat before the NS (apart from cats) and don't see myself as in the market for an Ent style boat. Having now sailed two sailed boats though, I like them too!
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ifoxwell
Really should get out more Joined: 05 Jan 06 Location: Hoo Online Status: Offline Posts: 669 |
Post Options Quote Reply Posted: 30 Jun 10 at 2:20pm |
My last three two man boats were a Grad, Merlin and now a
National 12 and I'm interested, so i agree your looking at a much broader spectrum of sailors and cant discount the slower boats. But that said if your just gonna put more rag on it then i loose interest. The appeal of the NS to me is the technicality. Put more rag on it and then Hannah and I just wont be big/fit enough to sail it! Keep it technical and a far broader spectrum of sailor sizes have a chance. Ian |
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RS300
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