Sarah and Matt, mixing it up...

Surprising to Matt on the helm. I figured it would be the other way around.

That's what I mean by "mixing it up." Smart (IMO) to try both positions. makes the team stronger and gives better perspective in evaluating each platform. These two continue to impress me.

I thought Taylor Reis was going too? No?

Looks cold in that pic. Not drysuit cold, but cold nonetheless.

Mike

gotta play with all of the controls on the boat to answer the questionnaire...
That is what it's all about... your answers on the questionnaire!

I read they did some informal racing in Santander today. Just based on the facebook updates I have read, it sounds like the Nacra 17 and Viper were the top performers, depending mostely on who was at the helm. The AHPC update made it sound like Sarah and Matt really made the Viper perform, which is great to hear!

>Apparently the Nacra 17 beat the Tornado by 1.5 minutes in the first sail-off of all the cats in 15+ knots. Having seen first hand how much faster an F20c is than a Tornado, I am not surprised that the Nacra 17 (basically a scaled down F20c) is the fastest boat at these trials. I suspect the difference would be even greater in lighter wind where the Tornado's stubby centreboards are a bigger liability.

The fact is that there is one boat that is clearly better than all of the others at these trials...the one with curved boards. <
http://forums.sailinganarchy.com/index.p...p;#entry3636516

Umm... who were the test pilots?

Usually the nut on the tiller gets the credit!

What I find puzzling it that that other sources report conflicting data.

This is what AHPC claims :

Had 2 teams on the Viper for the afternoon session. Both love the boat. They ran some short races in 8 - 12 knots. Viper did well in the 1st race, 2nd with a average crew who then swapped to the Tornado and really struggled.

Matt and Sara (from USA) were then on for the last 2 races. Lead the first race all the way to the finish but had to stop a bit short with a spin sheet around and under the bow.

Won the last race after a bad first work and hooking to top mark on the rudder.


Note that neither the AHPC or nacra sailing facebook page mention the Tornado as a top finisher. Neither does teh Nacra page say that the second boat (at 1.5 min) was a Tornado. In fact it may well have been the Viper and thus may see both the Nacra version of events line up with AHPC's version.

However, with the Viper doing 1st in the last race and 2nd in the first with a long lead in the second doesn't really align well with the claim that the Nacra 17 is "just clearly better then all the others at the trial. At least not in performance when sailed by a collection of sailors that are new to most designs.


The main conclusion is therefore that there is lots of hype coming from all corners.

It may also be interesting to note how a 15.900 euro Tornadao performance with a 25.900 Euro Marstrom.