IRC for cruisers

[flaming]

Fine. But your first example of results did not show that, it showed a hard fought regatta....

I've worked out which boat you're talking about though, used to be around here under previous ownership. Would have said "expect to feature at the sharp end" but not a bandit. And the Easter regatta results you quote are A, from over a decade ago, and B from a subclass consisting of 7 boats, where none of the others ever really featured much at the sharp end of results more generally. Not knocking it, but you have to see the context.

I've generally found over the years that when boats have a reputation for being "bandits" when you watch them sail you quickly realise that actually the crew are just bloody good....

 

[Neeves]

I've generally found over the years that when boats have a reputation for being "bandits" when you watch them sail you quickly realise that actually the crew are just bloody good....

....and the yacht well prepared. Additionally the crew would race to win (they might also enjoy themselves but the focus was on winning).

Why else race - unless you race to win.

Jonathan

 

[Chiara’s slave]

....and the yacht well prepared. Additionally the crew would race to win (they might also enjoy themselves but the focus was on winning).

Why else race - unless you race to win.

Jonathan

Of course it’s the serious racers who put in the most prep too. We do, we race with new sails made for us, the bottom in as near perfect as we can make it, every fitting works as we want it, we practice, though this is a one design class. Why handicap yourself by failing to optimise everything within the rules and within your control?

 

[flaming]

Why handicap yourself by failing to optimise everything within the rules and within your control?

Money...

 

[Chiara’s slave]

Money...

I do agree that in IRC the richer you are, the better. Maybe it’s why we don’t have an IRC boat. We have one, in fact 2, that we can afford to sort out properly. Yours would be outside our comfort zone to campaign, for instance, and any bigger would be a non starter. Pick your boat according to the budget.

 

[flaming]

I do agree that in IRC the richer you are, the better. Maybe it’s why we don’t have an IRC boat. We have one, in fact 2, that we can afford to sort out properly. Yours would be outside our comfort zone to campaign, for instance, and any bigger would be a non starter. Pick your boat according to the budget.

Unless you really do have an unlimited budget you're always compromising though. Mostly on the sail wardrobe. How often you replace the sails, how far up the cost bracket you go when you do.... etc...

 

[Chiara’s slave]

Unless you really do have an unlimited budget you're always compromising though. Mostly on the sail wardrobe. How often you replace the sails, how far up the cost bracket you go when you do.... etc...

We get through several sets a year on the X. But as a whole set is a fair bit cheaper than your no.2 jib, that’s not a problem.

 

[flaming]

We get through several sets a year on the X. But as a whole set is a fair bit cheaper than your no.2 jib, that’s not a problem.

Very true. But you also have to own a whole separate boat to go cruising in...

 

[Chiara’s slave]

Very true. But you also have to own a whole separate boat to go cruising in...

And more racing. I daresay our rigs are similarly sized and specced there. 65 sqm of while sails. But not the pressure of IRC. And we race with 2-3 crew, which is probably an even bigger expense than sails for you.

 

[flaming]

And more racing. I daresay our rigs are similarly sized and specced there. 65 sqm of while sails. But not the pressure of IRC. And we race with 2-3 crew, which is probably an even bigger expense than sails for you.

Eh?
How is having crew costing me money? I'm not paying them, and we have a lunch rota which they kindly leave me out of. (In fairness I started that system for the previous owner about a decade ago...)

I suppose I have to have and service more lifejackets, but I can't think of anything else... Certainly not even close to the sail bills.

 

[Chiara’s slave]

Eh?
How is having crew costing me money? I'm not paying them, and we have a lunch rota which they kindly leave me out of. (In fairness I started that system for the previous owner about a decade ago...)

I suppose I have to have and service more lifejackets, but I can't think of anything else... Certainly not even close to the sail bills.

Ah. My experiences have involved restaurants, lunch provided, beer paid. Not that anybody needs to do that for me, I often don't stop for the beer or food, though of course you eat anything that’s going whilst racing. We just accept it as normal. It is on Chiara.

 

[flaming]

Ah. My experiences have involved restaurants, lunch provided, beer paid. Not that anybody needs to do that for me, I often don't stop for the beer or food, though of course you eat anything that’s going whilst racing. We just accept it as normal. It is on Chiara.

For as long as I've been racing people have expected to pay their own meals / accommodation ashore. And beer goes in rounds. Certainly at the level I've been playing at!

 

[Chiara’s slave]

For as long as I've been racing people have expected to pay their own meals / accommodation ashore. And beer goes in rounds. Certainly at the level I've been playing at!

It’s a good arrangement, nobody has to feel beholden or taken advantage of. The whole thing often embarrasses me. I mean, if your bowman in a 19 yr old student who’s arrived on the bus it’s one thing, but an over 60 boat owner being treated the same is frankly odd. But it’s been so on every race boat I have crewed on.

 

[flaming]

It’s a good arrangement, nobody has to feel beholden or taken advantage of. The whole thing often embarrasses me. I mean, if your bowman in a 19 yr old student who’s arrived on the bus it’s one thing, but an over 60 boat owner being treated the same is frankly odd. But it’s been so on every race boat I have crewed on.

Slightly different for students etc yes.

 

[oldbloke]

I'm sure there is no such thing as a bandit boat in IRC because if there was a, the rating office would do what they do, and adjust the formula and b, all those people who spend thousands and thousands would all go out and by the Blowfly 38 so as not to get left behind.

 

[Chiara’s slave]

I'm sure there is no such thing as a bandit boat in IRC because if there was a, the rating office would do what they do, and adjust the formula and b, all those people who spend thousands and thousands would all go out and by the Blowfly 38 so as not to get left behind.

I largely agree. Some boats do consistently well in any rating rule. Put the same guys and girls in a one design, very likely the same thing will happen. Some people are just very good.

 

[oldbloke]

Most of my sailing is one design. It would be nice to have a bandit handicap to blame....

 

[Chiara’s slave]

We all have days like that.

 

[flaming]

Most of my sailing is one design. It would be nice to have a bandit handicap to blame....

In my experience moaning about boat differences (real or perceived) in one designs is just as prevalent as rating moans in IRC!

 

[dunedin]

We get through several sets a year on the X. But as a whole set is a fair bit cheaper than your no.2 jib, that’s not a problem.

Wow, several sets of sails a year sounds like an arms race which the class association could easily curtail.
Perhaps allowing better sail materials that last longer would be cheaper overall.
But with a local one design it would be very easy to restrict the number of sails able to be used - only replacing say every 2 years or 100 races ?
PS aback in the days when sails were rubbish quality, I remember a sail maker won a world championships using a new suit of sails each day! But most classes have improved sail quality and rules over changing sails.