TOPIC:

US sailors Barney & Dave completely dominated the Nationals with terrific speed upwind & down despite all the top Brits being there -except Chris Turner. They won all the races except one -where they had gear failure.They borrowed a boat from Peter Fontes so it wasn't the hull. What a spanking - the worst since the Boston Tea Party or Yorktown (1781)!"

We need an urgent discussion on how we can improve our speed - do we need to go for low aspect jibs for example



Memo to self: - I know where I went wrong - I didnt put a bolt through the bottom of the mast like Mike Mac told me to

Jerry,



How nice of you to mention 1781, AL1781 that is (Blue Streak). We were very pleased to come back with some silverware, and we do understand what the President's Cup is for...




Sorry to say that back in the pack we didn't get to see much of Barney or the rest of the Top Ten, but once you guys have worked out how to get past 'Mr USA', please let us know. There is a concern by some of us that if we loose any more time to the leaders, then the threat of lapping may come into play!



Thanks to Lyme for a great event, and thanks to all for a good weekend on the water.



Martin

Last time we sailed against Barny he was way quicker down wind particually on the reaches.

The last two races of last years Internationals we won by getting upwind better than they did, but we had to consistently look over our shoulders down wind, which felt horrible.

In Lyme in 05 when we were Newbies, we were lucky enough to get away and not look back too often, I do not believe Barny had the lower aspect jib back then?....either that or I was too drunk to notice.



If I were to find myself another boat, I would be taking a close look at his jib and working on my downwind speed, I think that is where he had a definate advantage over us.



The other thing that Simon and I suffered with in Largs, was Pie power, we couldn't hold on to either Barney or Will upwind when it was really blowing hard.



So, eat pies, drink beer, buy a jib....

Chris wrote:

The other thing that Simon and I suffered with in Largs, was Pie power, we couldn't hold on to either Barney or Will upwind when it was really blowing hard.



So, eat pies, drink beer, buy a jib....

Did someone mention Pies ?



Have to agree that downwind was where Barney and Dave dominated.




I'm not sure that their upwind speed was any better than the rest of us, except they were always on the lifted tack and hiking hard. But their downwind speed on the reaches was deavastating. I asked David where I could get some of the stuff they were using downwind, his reply was:




"Call Tony and ask for a set of sails. Then practice with 'em for 15 years"

A dozen pints of Otter Ale & a few nite caps in the Cobb Arms put me in my place on Saturday.



FOWLER2010-07-26 20:25:03

A well practiced member of Tewkesbury Boozing and Sailing Club [img]smileys/smiley11.gif[/img]

I think we need to have symposium or "clinic" on this even if it is an on-line one and ask boatspeed experts for their opinion. Perhaps John Woofinden knows some theoretical papers we can puzzle over?

This was recommended by Barney, ironically I already had it. Must get around to reading it!



www.amazon.co.uk/High-Performance-Sailin...hwaite/dp/0713667044



Phil