Sailing dinghies left on moorings, excluding Wayf & Wanderers

Seajet said:
I think I'm right in saying the Fireball was designed without the trapeze to start with; well I was a bit lighter when I crewed one, but it still seems crazy, I'm sure two of me now still couldn't hold it up just hiking !
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I'm always surprised by how optimistic certain class enthusiasts seem to be; broad alleged weight ranges for singlehanders like the Contender (55 - 95 kilos!)...but analysis of race results always show that tall, hefty helms are most often winners, aside from in calms.

Hence the existence of classes like the Europe, I guess. I always liked the look of them a lot - so infinitely prettier (and faster!) than the Topper, despite similar proportions. If I had a brain, I'd have bought one five years ago...I wonder why I didn't? :confused: ...oh, I know...

finn.jpg


...it was because the Europe reminded me of what I really wanted...the Olympic men's singlehander, not the women's...:rolleyes:
 
Seajet said:
It's hard to tell the wave size from that masthead view, I suspect when we had our unhappy experience off Hayling we were asking rather a lot, it was quite lumpy and the Fireball just kebabed the waves in front and took the lot onboard...
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It was lumpy here too for the 2012 world championship in Australia - See here:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eHxaaN-uiog

No one seems to be shipping anything over the bow - but these guys are good.

Me? I was on a Swiss lake - no waves so no idea what sort of sea boat it is. I only know how well balanced single-handed she was - like on rails.
 
Barnac1e said:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eHxaaN-uiog

No one seems to be shipping anything over the bow - but these guys are good.
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Very good! And the footage is well-shot, too...I often wish films taken of Osprey events were better...and more numerous...

...impressive, the way those Fireballers they keep a boat 4'6" wide, upright. :)



Were you one of those Fireball crews in Australia, Andy? :confused:
 
Seajet said:
No, I just liked the inference that if we'd been any good we would have been bone dry in the Fireball ! :D
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Hardly!
I know people who used to wear goggles helming them.
On a lake.
Chichester harbour can throw up a lot of wind-over-tide which will go straight over a Fireball.
It's for that sort of reason that they tend not to have spinnaker chutes.
 
I should be glad not to have set my sights on a National 18. Lovely boats, but they seem to need lots of organic ballast...

2008nationals_arkley_4_10.jpg


Pretty serious cruising boats too, or so it appears here:

PAA60977_1-450.jpg


Oh dear...I'm beginning to fall in love again...these bigger boats are always more versatile...I wonder what the National 18 weighs?
 
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Well I've just gone and bought myself an Albacore to do some inland cruising - Thames and Reserviors etc. I will try to report back at the end of the season on how it works.

Never sailed one, just like the size and the looks.
 
dancrane said:
I should be glad not to have set my sights on a National 18. Lovely boats, but they seem to need lots of organic ballast...

2008nationals_arkley_4_10.jpg


Pretty serious cruising boats too, or so it appears here:

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Oh dear...I'm beginning to fall in love again...these bigger boats are always more versatile...I wonder what the National 18 weighs?
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I think that is the pilot cutter Jolie Brise in the background.
That is a real sailing boat and weighs a bit more than a National 18 (about 40T).
 
rb_stretch said:
Well I've just gone and bought myself an Albacore to do some inland cruising - Thames and Reserviors etc. I will try to report back at the end of the season on how it works.

Never sailed one, just like the size and the looks.
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Fantastic! I've given serious thought to getting one of the same class, as I may have said in this thread...it's been a while.

Your profile here mentions a Phantom dinghy...it'll be interesting to read what you think of the Albacore's performance and general characteristics in comparison.

Let's pray for fine weather and warm winds, sooner rather than later. :rolleyes:
 
dancrane said:
Indeed? I'd have supposed the Fireball was one of those designs least controllable in a hard wind - very narrow and massively canvassed. Not a boat I ever coveted as it appears to me to be a capsize looking for a chance - at least if I were at the helm...
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Au contraire! A Fireball is IMHO the best boat bar none when it's properly honking. Here's me in my beloved old GBR14612 on my way to a pursuit race win...now sold sadly to fund foil-borne fun but sadly missed...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Enp8vShvRoU&feature=youtube_gdata_player

Warp speed from 11:15!
 
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Iain C said:
Au contraire! A Fireball is IMHO the best boat bar none when it's properly honking. Here's me in my beloved old GBR14612 on my way to a pursuit race win...now sold sadly to fund foil-borne fun but sadly missed...
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Enp8vShvRoU&feature=youtube_gdata_player
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Great clip, thanks!
It was also good to see the Lasers. Way, way back about the time I came to CH and had the Fireball, I bought a Laser just as the European Laser championships were scheduled for my local lake, Thunersee. I entered with no clue how to sail one properly - we had a lot of wind and I capsized on a few occasions during the three-day event. I came 39th out of 93 entrants (I remember only because of the juxtaposition of those two numbers). It was fun but my last race - ever. I realised I just didn't have the blindingly competitive spirit compared to those fanatical, international competitors.

I mention that, along with my Fireball experiences, to illustrate that somehow one can get afloat, in anything one can sit in that has sails. All the agonising here over what class is irrelevant, just get something and go sailing. If you don't have something, build it, or get a wreck for peanuts, or less, and patch it up. Money? sell something. I sold all my camera equipment to fund the wood for the Fireball, chosen not because I knew it was a good boat but because it was so easy to build. If one has the will there is absolutely no reason not to be sailing in the UK these days.
 
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I agree the Fireball is great fun, just maybe not ideal in big waves.

People like Dan and me get plenty of kicks musing over different designs and their qualities, just as some people - also me ! - enjoy working on and fiddling with boats and musing through chandlery catalogues.

With Dans' requirement for a small cruiser capable of planing past a foiler Moth, singlehanded, with a tent up & stove on, singlehanded, light enough to tuck under one arm and carry up a slip, it's a subject which requires careful study ! :D
 
Seajet said:
No, I just liked the inference that if we'd been any good we would have been bone dry in the Fireball ! :D
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I wasn't necessarily making that implication, even if you inferred it. Who here can claim world-class competence like those in that championship? Certainly not I. Of course a Fireball is a wet boat, they are just a high-powered surfboard - it's all part of the fun.
 
Scanning the thread it occurs to me that no one has mentioned a shearwater catamaran
Will sit on a mooring, faster than most of the boats mentioned, cheap to get second hand, easy to sail.no heavier than a wayfarer. Can be cruised about a bit. I used to sail mine single handed for fun but if you want to open it up then both crew can use a trapeze it even has a spinnaker
 
Seajet

Big waves are fine...I remember one stupidly windy wavy race at Marazion surfing down huge rollers on the run. The boat was going so fast that the mainsheet went slack and the boom lazily drifted in towards the centreline of the boat. Head up slightly and BANG out it went and we were surfing at 45 degrees to the wave train. Code brown!!

But agreed...Solent chop is a nightmare, especially upwind. In the couple of events I did on the Solent with fellow pond sailors, we got our asses totally whupped by the guys who sailed short chop regularly and could get the boat to go in that without driving the bow transom into every blinking wave!
 
Seajet said:
I agree the Fireball is great fun, just maybe not ideal in big waves.

People like Dan and me get plenty of kicks musing over different designs and their qualities, just as some people - also me ! - enjoy working on and fiddling with boats and musing through chandlery catalogues.

With Dans' requirement for a small cruiser capable of planing past a foiler Moth, singlehanded, with a tent up & stove on, singlehanded, light enough to tuck under one arm and carry up a slip, it's a subject which requires careful study ! :D
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Oh dear, how embarrassing! Anyone would think I'd aired my conflicting tastes and preferences here, occasionally...:rolleyes:

You're quite right Andy, and I hope I don't irritate the collective with my inconclusive dreaming. I entirely take Barnac1e's point, that any boat sailed beats any other boat only dreamt about...but in the cold midwinter with a thin wallet, dreams & discussion give off warmth.

Plus, as a self-proclaimed voice of sloth-disliking non-racing dinghy-sailors (I may regret saying that :o) I reckon there's probably an ideal design, possibly not entirely recognised for its combined toughness, satisfying performance, space & load capacity, and looks...

...the Shearwater is an interesting tangent. All wood, if I remember. I don't believe I've ever actually seen one. That's part of the problem; for space on board, a big boat is probably a good start, and the Osprey seems to do it all...but there just aren't any for sale!

Likewise, the Wayfarer is so roomy, comfortable, versatile and available, choosing it ought to be a no-brainer, and I am mightily persuaded by its inherent stability as a cruising platform. Just a pity it moves like a large lady chasing a bus. :rolleyes:

I'm interested by the difference described between Solent sea conditions, and those elsewhere. I appreciate that a long fetch will allow regular smooth rollers to gather in length and height, while the Isle of Wight muddles that pattern...and the tides meeting can't help...

...I read ages ago that Uffa Fox designed the Flying Fifteen particularly with the short irregular Solent chop in mind; not sure how the FF's hull or low freeboard demonstrate anticipation of these conditions.
 
Dan,

I can't really see a Flying Fifteen being good in chop either !

The Solent waves aren't so freakishly different, they still have a gap and a frequency, though of course the big racing yachts ( no sure if it was actually the J's ) invented the Solent jib, set high with a high clew to stop waves breaking into it, and by sheer coincidence I find a sail like that which I was given works very well but that's more due to a good slot.

The time when the Solent really was mad was the 1977 Jubilee Spithead review, with a lot of warships and hundreds of yachts anchored in the Solent.

The reflected waves were incredible, anyone who was there will remember how uncomfortable it was !
 
dancrane said:
Likewise, the Wayfarer is so roomy, comfortable, versatile and available, choosing it ought to be a no-brainer, and I am mightily persuaded by its inherent stability as a cruising platform. Just a pity it moves like a large lady chasing a bus. :rolleyes:
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Ah but my Wayfarer is still faster than your boat :p
 
Mavanier said:
Ah but my Wayfarer is still faster than your boat :p
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A fat lady swimming is faster than my boat. :o

I love the Wayfarer, and there's every chance I'll get one this year, and I'll love every moment aboard her...

...but you know what I mean...even without any reason to hurry, it's always nice to feel the boat isn't unduly held back.
 
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