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it seems to me that the vyc coaches who coach juniors in sabots and minnows and are paid from levies on sabre sailors spend most of their time convincing the juniors that the sabre is a dead end boat whereas they boost the laser as the gateway to the olympics for those who are really dedicated
iT IS total gobldygump because the majority will be so focused on their final two or three years at school and getting into the best tertiary institution that they have a better chance of winning the lottery than making the olympics
the fact is that the sabre is reallly an excellent class fto combine with a tertiary course providing some real fun and excitement as a break from the books that does not require the dedication and physical strength of the laser while having all the tactical and strategic aspects
in truth for the varst majority of people the sabre is a far superior sailboat to the laser in every wayi think most sabre sailors are of the opinion that the state and national authorities sees “sabre sailors” as a cash cow that they can rip off to fund their pie in the sky projects and boosting their egos and have not the slightest interest in anything other than ripping off the average sabre sailor-the sooner we piss them off and do our own thing the better= hey
People can say what they like everybody is entitled to their opinion and i respect them for it but nothing will convince me otherwise than a new sabre in its first year has a huge advantage over older sabres- i have formed this opinion having been in the class since 1985-this i think is especially relevent in 0-15 knots perhaps a shade less in over 15 where boat handling is more relevant- sure you will say the most skilled sailors generally make up the top ten in a championship and the neophites make up the last ten i agree- but my point is that say excluding really stand out sailors like Wayne Bates in my opinion not much separates the skills of the sailors in the various groups like 1-10,10-20,20-30 and so on,within these groups over say a 7 race series i think a one year old boat versus a 7 year old boat could account for being at either end of this spectrum-i can not prove it-it is just based on personal observation-well does this mean i should buy a new sabre every year- no way, there are more important things than winning-i enjoy sailing sabres,i have made great friends and i enjoy travelling to places around this country of ours to sail in championships-sailing has got to be fun-that is more impotant than anything
hi yeah i had planned to sail some of the regatta as my sister has a house on raymond island but have got this flue wog for almost a week that really makes one feel s–t h—e so i had to abandon plans but will try again next year especially as you guys seem to be in the front run for the next victorian based nat championship but of course that wasnt my reason for visiting i just think the lakes are a real pretty place to sail-peter reid sabre 1555 endorphin
interesting you say that as the current plywood sabres being built by express boat works only have a similar appearance to rex fetells abigail
i dont see how you could get a competitive boat to those in the top 15 of the national titles for $2000.00 with a trailer included my experience has been that as boats are sailed regularly they tend to loose stiffness and gain weight- i think that you would expect to pay around $3000-$4000 for a boat that has any chance of making the top 30- sure i have been told that a really hot sailor could win with just a bed sheet but the newer the boat the more frisky the hull is my opinion
hi tim heany i remember you as an ace sabre sailor from gippsland during the eighties sailing 854 sorry fogot the boats name- great that your thinkin of making a comeback though it goes without saying that very few melbourne sabre sailors from your era are still active in the class hey but i am as are those absolute legends from black rock who will probably take their sabres to heaven hey- i sailed a plastic sabre 1209 called wombat at daveys bay unfortunately sabres are now extinct there
i have had adjustable hiking straps in past boats but did not bother when building this one- as i formed the view that attaching them to the floor behind the front bulkhead on one end and pulling them tight as i could to a point about 200m on the floor in front of the transom was ok- i use shock cord under the thwart to lift them so you can get your feet under them- i just have the view the lower they are the more support they give you especially if you hike straight legged- Jeni Lidgett the 470 olympian who talked me into sailing sabres also had a single reaching toe strap that ran from the mainsheet block to the transom – i used her boat before i owned my own, but i found it superfluous but i was a bit taller than her
i knew a guy who added 50% to a lasers sail area mostly to the mast not sure about the boom and fitted out riggers do it- it was real nice in 5 to 10 knots so he thought he would take it out in 20 knots well i watched from the cliffs at daveys Bay near frankston – the sheer force on the outrigger caused the whole thing to vibrate out of control till with one bang the whole laser self destructed -apart from a few bruises from flying debris the skipper was ok. It was atleast ten years ago i think the outrigger was made from 50 mil boom sections bolted to the deck-it was built by Bob Brunton a very good laser and flying fifteen sailor whose son Paris sailed David Wood’s “Direct Wind Power” sabre for 4 seasons a few years ago
Hi i am peter reid sailing sabre 1555 and started sailing sabres in 1986 in sabre 1209 -regarding your interest in a sabre training video ,there was a video made as part of the cairn curran nationals- ( i had bought sabre 1209 but had not got round to rigging it ,not that i knew anything about how to sail a sabre anyhow)- The video featured some great close up shots of duels between geoff wood and wayne bates and other top sabre sailors during the nationals on lake cairn curran which is somewhere near maldon i think- the video was shown at what is now ashwood college- i am not sure if it (the video)still exists but either wayne ,john snellgrove or barry stow who were active on the commitee at the time may know whether this video still exists- it definitely inspired me at the time and i am still in the class- good sailig
