Lightwave395
Well-known member
Ben Ainslie wins all three of the first days racing in Sydney !
SailGP
- Thread starter Lightwave395
- Start date
dunedin
Well-known member
Yes brilliant first day in this class.
Shame it is no longer the America’s Cup boat though.
Shame it is no longer the America’s Cup boat though.
lw395
Well-known member
Got a couple of GPs sailing in my club.
Also a dentist and a Physio.
Ben Who?
Also a dentist and a Physio.
Ben Who?
RobF
Active member
GP14s, I presume?
Lightwave395
Well-known member
Got one on my drive as it happens, haven't managed to hit 50 knots yet though, thinking of adding foils !
Lightwave395
Well-known member
Ainslie wins the Sydney SailGP event - that's the sailor not the chef...
Beelzebub
Well-known member
I managed to capsize a GP at 03.00 (yes, 3.00 a.m.) a few years back in a gybe that went wrong in a 24 hour race. It took an age to empty the damned thing. Give me a Fireball any day.
Bobc
Well-known member
Take a garden shed. Turn it upside down. Put a mast in it. You now have a GP14.
Lightwave395
Well-known member
A bit brutal but certainly not the slickest boat across todays trendy RS whatevers.
However, it works for me with a bunch of 'not really sailors' grandchildren who I take out in the school holidays, they're pretty stable compared to an Enterprise and I don't want the hassle or cost of a much bigger and heavier Wayfarer. The kids enjoy a bit of sailing, rowing and motoring around with my O/B - mine did also cost me the princely sum of £30 including the trailer so I'm not complaining.
Having said that, they did rather well across a range of weather conditions in the 2019/2020 Sailjuice series - in the top 3 on handicap a couple of times in big fleets - not bad for an upside down shed !
Bobc
Well-known member
Just pulling your chain ;-)
I bet Ben found the GP50's a bit of a big stable platform after spending time on the new monohull foilers.
lw395
Well-known member
The GP is known as a 'boat which doesn't even burn quickly', but being slow possibly helps give good racing for a variety of people.
It's still a class which attracts some good sailors and runs some decent opens and championships.
If speed was everything, we'd all be sailing cats.
But for me, the weight of a GP14 would be a problem on the beach at low tide.
It's still a class which attracts some good sailors and runs some decent opens and championships.
If speed was everything, we'd all be sailing cats.
But for me, the weight of a GP14 would be a problem on the beach at low tide.
Lightwave395
Well-known member
I definitely agree, but if you chuck the floorboards away it's manageable !
Lightwave395
Well-known member
Appreciate that ! don't get me wrong, I'm not a fan, I was just looking for something (anything ) that could be bought and sailed for less than £100 on the water...
When the grandchildren tire of it I'll hand it over to other half and it will become a flower bed in the front garden !
Daydream believer
Well-known member
When I was a teenager our club had a class of about 30 GP14s & they used to turn up every week.. Speed is not everything ( only relative) when one can get really close class racing in those numbers every weekend
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Lightwave395
Well-known member
Any one design is good racing, we used to get 20+ Sigma 33's out in the Solent back in the mid 90's
Quandary
Well-known member
There were 25 at the Scottish Series in 89, we had to count a disq. but still managed fourth.
Lightwave395
Well-known member
I did the so called Sigma 'Europeans' included as part of Cork week back in '94, there were around 80 boats from all over the UK, certainly one of the best boats I've ever had and the best racing, I did it again a few years later on my old boat with it's new owner, it's still in the Solent racing.
Quandary
Well-known member
The biggest Sigma class startline I was on had 39, with 80 I would have expected them to divide the fleet, they used to do it sometimes with a lot less than that. We did not know how lucky we were back then, big fleet with nearly half of them competitive, close racing, great social scene and proper strict one design rules, no sail choices in those days.
Lightwave395
Well-known member
The start line was getting on for mile long !
scottie
Well-known member
The first year that we had a RIB at Scottish I took the PRO round the sigmas doing spot checks between races
They were rather surprised that we managed so many but we were actually looking at one boat in particular but it was clear except as with every other one the emergency water was gone!
They were rather surprised that we managed so many but we were actually looking at one boat in particular but it was clear except as with every other one the emergency water was gone!
