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Len wrote:
David Thatcher wrote:
Even a more cruising orientated junk rig yacht can scoot along. Here is the URL to a video of some enjoyable sailing we had recently on our old pile of 'Junk'
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pRBUh6mjxpA
Looks really enjoyable... and warmer than here (frozen windshield this morning). I have to ask though, I notice you have more of a poop deck than a cockpit. How do you like that? It would seem nicer at anchor, how is it under way? (it looks pretty too BTW)
I enjoyed it too, in the cold depths of the British winter. It looked as though you were doing better than 6 knots, Alison and Catherine were holding on tight, and Catherine's enjoyment was easy to see. The sail still looked to be in good shape.
What kinds of racing are there? These are some:
- One design, in which the main variables are the preparation of the boat and the skill of the sailor. In which case, the hull shape has already been decided upon. It doesn't matter what it is, as everyone is on a level playing field.
- Restricted class racing, in which only some major parameters (eg LOA, sail area) are set by those who are going to participate (the International Moth and the America's Cup boats, at opposite ends of the scale). In which case hull shape is one of the factors that will determine success, as well as skill in sailing the boat. The race is won at the design and construction phase, as much as on the course.
- Handicap racing, the type of racing that takes place at local level everywhere, as it's often difficult to get one design fleets together. In which case, you are competing against the handicappers as well as the other sailors, trying to persuade them that your boat is slow, when in fact it is fast. Here, the shape of the hull scarcely matters. A slow boat can win races if it has a good handicap.
- Short-handed ocean racing. Here, it's "man against the ocean", with seamanship, and physical and mental stamina, having major roles to play, and it's more important that the boat will go the distance and treat the sailor well; its hull shape recedes into the background.
- And there will be other forms of racing which don't come readily to mind.
Of these, then, restricted class racing is the only one where you get to choose the hull shape as an important part of the total package.
In handicap racing at club level, you simply choose a good boat of a class that is well represented locally, so that you have someone to race against directly, not on handicap. On any given race day, you will be beaten by someone whose boat suited those conditions better; and on another race day, you will do well because your boat suited those conditions better than the others. It's a game of chance, as much as of skill. If I were the racing kind (which thank the lord I'm not, sir), I wouldn't waste time and money on handicap racing.
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