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Old sails tend to streach more as the filler slowly breaks down and permanent streaches due to loads take place. As for diamond sails most were cut by Lindsay Irwin and all early Irwin Sails were based on a template of a new diamond we had just purchased. He has since done development on this sail.
Stephen Early
The bad news for you all is that I plan to attend the Nationals and I am taking this series seriously. I have even completed a race to fine tune my skills so I am ready to go (as I suspect I wont sail again before the titles). My inexperienced daughter (Maree) has decided not to sail as she will be sking in Norway during that time. So I guess all I can do is have lots of fun sailing and enjoying the company of the sailors and support crew who attend. I hope others who keep me company in my part of the fleet also sail. I can not imagine having a christmas without a nationals.
Stephen Early
I have found that rope is very suitable to adjust tension and also you can make alterations as shrouds streach in. Rig tension caauses your mast to compress making it easier to bend with your other controls and in the wind. How much flex you need will depend on the cut of your sails and your weight. Like many things we have plenty of top sailors who use relatively little tension and as they sail their shrouds go loose on the leward side in a strong wind. Others have that much tension that the shrouds never go loose and you could play a tune on the rigging. I know Maree measures her tension with a gauge and uses high tension – this works for her but not others. Hope I have not muddied the water too much.
One final hint. Rope can break so in a championship place a second rope on the forstay just in case. At least that way you can finish.Stephen Early
Eliza
I take the advice of my kids. Hiking shorts are not only desirable after using them they become almost essential. Both my kids use Queensport as I am told they are the best and exported all around the world (thanks to Brendan Casey). on top a thermal and spray jacket is all I wear although my daughter has a collection of lined rash vests also avaliable from Brendan Casey. Finally a good spray top and the kids prefer the breathable ones as you can wear them even in marginal conditions without overheating. On the feet you should have some form of hiking boots – Wayne wears the Harley Hanson type. Finally you might want to consider some form of leggins – lycra or thermal pants to both keep the legs warm and also stop that sailors tan. Maree claims that it does not look good in short skirts to have white thighs. She wears leggings all year around.Stephen Early
I have no wish to flame other classes for junior sailing and I am not anti laser. Both my son and daughter have sailed lasers and Maree also sailed europes. However when they were going through the junior program support was given to people sailing othe than selected classes and the criteria was how good a sailor you were and not what type of boat you sailed on. I believe the state and national body should be supporting all sailors and our elite no matter what class they sail. My major concern is not the drop of numbers of juniors sailing sabres but the number of juniors sailing. Again going back a few years it was very difficult to make it to Mordialloc and now most of those who wish to go go as the number after spots was much larger. The regattas were huge unlike currently where the numbers are almost an embarrisment. The good sailors will as my kids did – change to international and olympic classes when they are ready. Almost all our top sailors came through classes other than the path recommended. Both Crystal Weir and Sarah Blanck sailed sabres. Lets hope that both state and national bodies will stop chasing credit for events such as word youth chapionships and worry more about encouraging more juniors to sail and race regardless of the class they sail.
Stephen Early
The problem is that the Victorian Association had a new mould made a few years ago and that replaced the old Botteril mould. This was a commpletly different boat optimised to be fast. The mould that Yacht Craft is using is based on the old Botteril mould which at one stage was the only shaped mould allowed. You are right about the YMS mould being based on Wayne Bates boat. Botteril has closed and the VIctorian Association is looking at who will get to use the mould.
Stephen Early
Hi
I have built both my current dolly and my daughters dolly out of aluminium and believe I wrote an article in one of the old rattles about this. I doubt I still have it. The process for getting the dolly to match the boat (as they are all different) is simple. First I do not have any padding to start with. I shape the timber (in my case 19mm ply) to the shape of the boat where the boat will sit. I finish this with an angle grinder and have found that even if it is not perfect (a few mm out) it will not be a problem. Next I place a plastic sheet over the bottom of the upturned boat. I then sit the craddle on the boat. I cut strips of 4mm marine ply about 100mm wide and slide them between the cradle and the boat. The weight of thew cradle will make certain that these conform to the shape of the boat. I then use fibregalss tape to fix the 4mm ply to the main shapped support and put on a few coats of resin. The plastic sheet is to catch drops. I then remove the craddle and clean up any mess. Finally I use foam cut from a camping bed roll cut into strips about 150mm wide and attach this to the 4mm ply with contacty cement. Job Finished.Stephen Early
Just to point out a problem all organising committees have in selecting a club. Many will say you should go to such and such a club as they have great administration. Unfortunately the association has little say in who the club organises to run the races. We were blessed with great race administration for the states but those rock members who sailed this weekend know how bad it can get with a change of crew. The less said about todays race the better. I could not find one person who was complimentary. It unfortunately seems that common sence is not so common.
Stephen
It seems to me that the selection of a National Venue is always critised by those not organising the event and not holding all the information. I have seen venues chosen for a number of reasons including support for peoples home clubs and this happens in many classes – not just Sabres. However I can not see a better option than those on the ground making the decision. For many venues we know what we will get before we get there and if you dont like it just dont come. Despite the rose coloured glasses many seem to be wearing about other classes and events I can honestly say in my list of poorly organised venues I count many national events organised for the olymic class sailors. One final point in this rambling – your chances of a good regatta are greaty limited if the club has little interest and is only doing it to get money for the club. That needs to be considered and does limit our venues.
Stephen Early
I have seen this problem before. Soft timbers seem a little week. The ideal solution is a laminated thawt. If not I would use ash.
Stephen EarlyAndrew
I am getting old so only require 35 knots – as long as no races are held under 20 knots – this talk of 10 knots is giving me nightmares. As for the other side of the bridge – I am all for racing in areas where local knowledge is at a minimum.Stephen Early
I am working from memory and you can check most of the rules on the site.
1) I believe the haliard lock if used must be on the deck and close to the main bulkhead
2) 2:1 is sufficient for a downhaul but you can have more (or less)
3) 6:1 is good for an outhaul. It was restricted but can remember the meeting where we removed that (In the 70’s) as it was seen as a disadvantage to the little guys
Stephen Early
