[julianekennion4]

Great to see a mold over in WA. Having a local glass builder will surely help the class grow. I saw a recent boat out of this mold at the National’s in Adelaide. It looked great. I mistook it for a new YMS boat as has a very similar finish on the decks.

As for fast? I think the nut on the end of the tiller is a larger influence, however I can categorically say that it’s not slow! Why? I vividly remember being lee bowed by this particular boat

Thanks for keeping us all posted on what’s going on over in WA.

Cheers,

Chris
Espresso 1778

[julianekennion4]

Hi Greg,

Your sailmaker will be a good guide on this topic as preference/construction may change form sailmaker to sailmaker. I can only really comment about the Irwin sail but I suspect it’ll apply to all.

As a general rule of thumb:

Lower/Short Battens: Take them how they come. Tension make very little or no difference to sail shape. I don’t even know what they look like – I’ve never even removed mine from the sail! The sailmaker usually sets the “tension” by how they construct the pocket/batten.

Top/Full Battens: Use a tight tension so the batten starts to just show a tendency to “pop” from side to side in the batten pocket. This helps stops the battens from accidentally inverting in light conditions and keeps the wrinkles away in higher winds. Always remember to release the tension at the end of the day when you roll up the sail.

We’ve done quite a bit of work with battens over the past 12 months. Irwin Sails has two main shapes, both with proven race records. Linsay Irwin usually speaks to the sailor and will advise on the best sail to suit your weight, ability, target conditions and mast bend. Most of the sail development done over the past year has been around making very minor changes to this existing designs to broden the sail’s optimum working range. Battens were one area we’ve experimented with. The idea being that battens can induce different shapes in lower winds but as the wind increases it’s influence lessens. (They are also cheaper to change than a sail recut and can be changed on the water for same day testing.) We’ve tried:

* Different stiffness and tensions
* Various degrees of taper
* Using multiple sets of battens and changing them up the wind range

The end result is we’ve gone full circle! The conclusion is the symmetric battens and consistent tensions are best through all wind ranges. Any gains from “experimenting” were minimal or detrimental (like taper battens). For stiffness my preference is a slightly more flexible batten than Linsay usually supplies and this is achieved by sanding off the ridge.

The only advantage found was all this playing was it gave us something to talk about over a beer in the bar.

Cheers,

Chris
Espresso 1778

[julianekennion4]

@ronny_f73 wrote:

Looks like a good day out chris!!

Was a good day for those of us who didn’t end up on on the reef, washed up on Sandringham beach or getting towed in! Good day for the Sabres… not so good for the Moth and Skiff sailors

[julianekennion4]

On the topic of glass boats, this link my be of interest to some:

http://www.formulasailcraft.com.au/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=13&Itemid=15

Looks like we may have a new option for glass boats in the new season.

[julianekennion4]

The following information has been sent out to all entrants for this year’s Vic State Titles. For those that are entering on the day, you may find this information useful:

Wow! We have over 90 boats entered for this year’s State Titles. We’re expecting a pretty busy boat park! Here is some preliminary information to help keep things smooth on the day.

Boat Drop-off and Parking
Mordialloc Sailing Club has lots of rigging and parking room and parking attendants will be on hand on Saturday morning to help. Enter the club via the Bowman Street lane and proceed around to the right and drive through the rigging area clockwise around the club. If possible, please drive through the rigging area to the parking area adjacent to the mouth of Mordialloc Creek and off-load your boat there. Parking areas are marked in Red [see image below]. Please follow any directions provided by the attendants.

We’d like to store trailers down on “the point” on the mouth of Mordialloc Creek if possible. There is plenty of rigging room in front of the club or on the beach.

Friday Club Access
We have a number of interstate visitors and we have arranged to have the club open from 6:00pm on Friday evening till late evening. Any locals who what to avoid the morning run may also wish to consider this. Please leave your boats on the south side of the club opposite the launching ramp. This area will be floodlit all night. A local club member who lives opposite the club will also keep an eye out.

Registration
The registration desk will be just inside through the main club entry. It will open from 8:30am (or maybe earlier). Please register early if possible as the registration desk is bound to be busy. Sailing instructions will be available at the time of registration.

Lunch
Mordialloc will have their canteen stocked for lunch and after racing on both days. And of course the bar will be open after sailing. Please consider putting in a lunch order prior to going out for the first race to help the canteen with catering.

BBQ
Don’t forget this year’s BBQ has a theme: “black tie”! No. Don’t worry – no fancy dress required! All sailors will have the opportunity to tie a knot in a length of black rope and tell the knot’s story. I’ve heard a few sailors talking their tails over already. One story revolved about a knot an unnamed Sabre sailor “should” have tied before driving off from the club. Apparently he was rather embarrassed to arrived home with an empty trailer on the back of his car!

Boat Storage on Saturday Night
Sailors will be able to leave their boat and trailers at MSC on Saturday night. The gate will be locked and local adjacent club members will keep an eye out.

On behalf of all the Sabre Committee, we look forward to seeing everyone this weekend!

Chris Dance
Espresso 1778

[julianekennion4]

While on the topic of the 2011 Vic State Titles, the NOR is online here:

2011 Sabre State Title NOR

We’re also accepting entries online this year. Make sure you enter soon to guarantee you receive the even polo shirt!

The committee is keen to match last year’s 70+ fleet size. If you have not competed in a titles before, make Mordialloc your first. It’s a great club with great facilities, easy rigging and parking, and you’ll have a great time. If you were at last year’s titles then we expect to see you at Mordialloc unless you have a note from your Mum!

[julianekennion4]

We have a few people seeking boats for the titles (or for sale in general). There is a bit of a shortage as the class is growing. The committee is doing their best to track down people willing to loan their boats and offer guidance on a suitable charter fee. One of the issues people have is concerns about the boat being looked after. I know Tash is an experienced active sailor who I know many speak highly of. It would be great to see her in our fleet.

If you are not planning on sailing the states yourself and would consider chartering your boat to help build the class, please get in touch with me (chris.dance (-at) papercut.com).

Cheers,

Chris
Espresso 1778

[julianekennion4]

Hi All,

I’ve had a few emails (including one from the USA!) asking me for my mast step and rake measurements as used in the Nationals. I’ve taken the opportunity to update my rigging guide based. You can view this here:

http://bit.ly/eUgkbh

Changes:

* Mast step and rake measurements
* Centerboard rake
* New options for toe straps and foil bags
* Photo of main halyard retainer
* Details of the cut of Irwin sail used.

As always, if anyone needs any extra photos or measurements, please just ask.

Thanks to those that have offered suggestions and submitted ideas and photos.

Cheers,

Chris

Espresso
1778

[julianekennion4]

Hi Lea,

This is a great infinitive and one I’d be keen to support. Nick Moaut and I both got HD waterproof cams for Christmas (GoPro) and the next 30kt day we’re going to go out for some action shots – or as Nick kindly put it the other day, “catch your mast falling down on film this time” I’d be happy to share this with you.

Regarding some comments. I’d be happy to provide one, but I’ll leave it up to some others to break the ice first… come on guys!

One person did however say to me when I started sailing Saber’s that, “A Sabre is like a Laser without the backaches and bull*hit”. A nice line but probably not the best one to use for promotional purposes.

Cheers,

Chris
Espresso 1178

[julianekennion4]

On a related topic, Nick Mouat (Serendipity) and myself from Black Rock are heading over the Adelaide tomorrow for this weekend’s South Australian state title heats. If you’re interested in following our progress, travels and results, here’s my twitter feed:

http://twitter.com/SailEspresso

(a little progressive for Sabres but there is even a Sabre Facebook group now so times are changing )

[julianekennion4]

For those not on the Sabre Vic mailing list, here is a report on the 2010 Sabre Interclub Teams Race (including some videos).

http://groups.google.com/group/sabre-sailing-vic/browse_thread/thread/d857285e80469feb

Thanks to Jordan and Richard at Mordialloc for the editing and camera work!

[julianekennion4]

Oops. Sorry about the poll. Always wondered what that did!

[julianekennion4]

Wow. I’ve been away form the discussion list for a while. Nice to see a bit of “action”! I should take the opportunity to start in a few other contentious topics.

A number of good points here, however I’m disappointed to see a lot of anonymous negative posts. Have the balls to put your name on the post! It will carry much more weight (no pun intended)

Unfortunately I don’t see many people from the SA organization committee in here sticking up for their decision, so I’ll post my thoughts in response to comments:

And what happens if it’s voted out – does the NOR get changed, or will the hull weighing just automatically not apply ??

It is my understanding that the States vote overwhelmingly against weighting boats, however it should be made clear that this is only a “guide”. The race organizer always has the right to measure any aspect of any boat at any time. It’s part of the RRS. Weighing boats at Nationals is something that’s quite common in other classes. As pointed out by locknload, weight is easy to measure and has a large potential effect on performance and hence I can see valid reasons why the SA organizing committee may have made this decision.

Besides wating a day of competitors holidays, exactly what beenefit does this achieve?

That’s probably going a bit far. Boat weighing will only add a few extra minutes to the set of steps we all need to take at registration. Don’t forget the class already has its strange and annoying measurement peculiarities. Why do we need to have our foils measures every year? I know they spend a lot of time in the water but my centerboard has never sprouted roots and grown. Measuring foils (that have already been measured) every year IMHO is just as strange and time consuming. At least weighting boats is quick as easy. Measuring a set of foils correctly is not…. taper checks over all edges, fiddly radius measurements, thickness checks over the whole surface… I know it’s hard because my foils don’t measure (radius problem) and they have pass nationals measurement checks without question three years running! Every year I shake my head and wonder why we bother. At least it’s pretty hard to stuff up reading a number off a set of scales (Oh. BTW I’ll make sure it’s fixed for this year )

Will this be a confidential procedure or do all competitors get to see the weights?

I’m sure the SA organizing committee has considered this. The Sabre class is different from most. There is a large percentage, if not a majority of amateur-built wooden boats, many of which will be overweight. It would not be much fun to rub this fact into sailor’s faces – negative feedback, resale problems, etc. I’ve competed at a number of sailing events with complex pre-measurement and weighting is usually confidential and not recorded. You simply get a tick (green light) and move onto the next station.

SA boats get weighed prior to the event

I’ve heard a bit of discussion on this one around the traps (in between talk about the moon landing, Roswell and 9/11). I’m sure this is just a pragmatic move by the SA organizing committee to cut down work on the day (however I agree it’s probably not a very well thought out move from a PR perspective). Let’s have a bit of faith.

All in all I think we should see the positive side. It takes a lot of hard work and energy to organize the Nationals for one of Australia’s largest classes. If the SA committee has the energy to tackle low-priority tasks like this, then I’m excited to see what they have in store for us in other areas. The measurement day can be a pain but it also can be fun. It’s a great way of forcing everyone to spend a day catching up with all the sailors they haven’t seen for a year – measurement in between a beer at the bar. That’s what Sabre sailing is about.

Chris
Espresso 1778

[edit: someone PM’ed me and asked if this post means I support weight measurement at the nationals. The answer is no. I’m for even less measurement! My point is this issue is not a big deal and I’m putting it into perspective.]

[julianekennion4]

The Sabre Training Weekend at Black Rock was a great success with almost 40 boats attending from across the State. A big thank you to Wayne Bates and Russel Rooney for their management and coordination and to all the others that helped out with presentations and training.

All participants will be emailed out a feedback form in the coming days.

Also keep an eye on the Vic Association mailing list for news and photos .

(Join here if you’re not already subscribed: http://groups.google.com/group/sabre-sailing-vic/ )

[julianekennion4]

— Cross post from the Vic association mailing list (for those who are not yet on it) —

Hi All,

A reminder: This year’s Vic. Sabre Association AGM will be conducted on this coming Sunday morning at 9:30 AM (Sunday 10th of October) at Black Rock YC. Even if you’re not sailing at this year’s Sabre Training Weekend, we’d encourage you to attend the AGM, then hang around after for some of the theory lectures after.

Also on that note, we’ve had almost 40 boats sign up for this weekend’s training event. It’s a great response and shows the strength of the Sabre class – more boats at our training event than almost every other class has at their state titles! We’ve had a few last minute cancellations, so we’ve opened applications again:

http://tinyurl.com/sabre-training

Be quick. It’s free and there are only three spots remaining! If you can only do one day, then that’s fine.

Hope to see you all at Black Rock YC this weekend.

Cheers,

Chris
Espresso
1778

[Author]

Posts