Recent content by Puffin10032

The Lark is essentially a slightly stretched 1960s National 12. It's a far more demanding boat to sail than a Laser (which is actually very stable and mild mannered for a racing dinghy). If your intention was to race regularly then yes and your son could have a lot of fun in a Lark. But it seems...

There is a Vareo class association web site. I don't know active it is. RS stopped building the Vareo a few years ago so it's basically a dead class although it still has a very small but loyal following. Without a builder though I can't see any future in the class. When Laser stopped building...

The problem with reefing a racing dinghy is that it seriously impairs your ability to bend the mast and flatten the sail. Yachts don't have this problem as they invariably have a backstay which can be used to bend the mast but in racing dinghies we rely heavily on leech tension in the mainsail...

Some time ago I happened to bubble across a YouTube video by Irving Finkel of the British Museum who was given access to a Babylonian clay tablet relating the Epic of Gilgamesh and described in great detail how the Arc should be constructed. Above all, it was supposed to be round.

Suspiciously cheap though even with the admitted faults.

Lovely video. I'd love to bring my dinghy down and spend a few days exploring the Alde at some point.

As far as I'm aware it isn't. Trident sell their own-brand drysuits (very good IME) plus (at the time of writing this post) drysuits from Gill and drysuits from Crewsaver.

Tightness of weave and cloth weight have little to do with each other. All sailcloth is extremely tightly woven when compared to most fabrics. When comparing one sailcloth to another the difference in tightness of weave will be tiny but can make a noticeable difference on a sail. Sailcloth...

More likely to be a Seal than a Beaver and of our two main Seal Species somewhat more likely to be a Common Seal than a Grey Seal. I've read that the Faerie Isles are fabulous. I'd love to visit them some day.

IRC Dylan did Blakeney to Wells in the Slug and Wells to Blakeney through the salt marsh in his duck punt. I sailed my dinghy at Brancaster one day last summer and briefly put my nose into the Norton Channel. There seemed to be plenty of depth for a small craft. I understand that at high tide...

I raced Ospreys for about 20 years (70s through 80s). I owned three of them - one Mark 2 and two Mark 3s. The Mark2s were rather prone to inversion (too much buoyancy - a fault that many more modern racing dinghies also have). Part of the design rework that Ian Proctor did for the Mark 3 was to...

You did the best anyone could have given the circumstances. And you were there when things got really bad so I think you deserve some congratulations :applause: Was he wearing a wetsuit or drysuit? I'm assuming not as I can't see how hypothermia would have kicked in so quickly if he had been.

http://www.bainbridgeint.com/Products.aspx?Item=X4990 HTH