For the wife it really isn't the constant sail trim that get's her, it is the sets and the snuffs. A good set and snuff can pay big at crowded mark roundings especially in a breeze. Almost 100% of the time I'm tugging on the halyard on the set, but it's all her on the snuff. The assist on the set appears to keep us on par with the stronger/younger teams.

Didn't Alex & Patsy kick serious butt with corrector weights? Again, only in the big wind were the rest of us able to keep up, and then only marginally.

You can make that square top pancake flat, but you're right that you need max downhaul (mainsheet tight and then crank some more) and diamond tension around 750 lbs with a Looz gauge.

I agree that the 20 could use more purchase on the downhaul.

On the T500 I cut a wooden broomhandle into two 6" sections, drilled a hole big enough in it and then rand the DH line through it. Found the right length to play, then put two wraps around it to make it bite. Made playing it a bunch easier.

I did that too, and one set for the rotator control. This way I had a better grip and could adjust one handed if needed.

pussies

Does he sail a barge! <img src="http://www.catsailor.com/forums/images/graemlins/laugh.gif" alt="" /> <img src="http://www.catsailor.com/forums/images/graemlins/laugh.gif" alt="" /> <img src="http://www.catsailor.com/forums/images/graemlins/laugh.gif" alt="" />

You're just jealous that you didn't think of it first... <img src="http://www.catsailor.com/forums/images/graemlins/smirk.gif" alt="" />

ding: it wasn't so much a matter of being a pussy, it was more along the lines of "my hand is cramped from playing the downhaul for 8 hours and if I don't do something about it we're not going to do very well or go over"

Ironically, the leg I put them on, we didn't come in last!
(2005)



What else would he sail?

It's not just on catamarans. I've had people try to talk me into joining them (or their fleet) on lasers, scows, 505s, etc. based on my build.

Weight and height do make a difference. I once sailed a tanzer 16 with combined crew weight of around 450lbs on a breezy day and we cleaned up. Nobody else could keep their boat flat.

Weight (or lack thereof) alone, however, does not win races - especially at my level. One of the best light-air sailors in my fleet has the heaviest boat - by far. It doesn't seem to hold him back.

At the higher levels, where everybody is capable of sailing the boat to its potential, I expect crew weight is a larger factor. When I win or lose, though, it is not due to my size - it's because I sailed better than, or not as well as the others that day.

Regards,
Eric

Catch the right puff and you can win on momentum alone. Light air sailing can be so much fun. <img src="http://www.catsailor.com/forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif" alt="" />

I love to crew on this boat. I loved Tad's discription that it was like hanging off the side of a runaway locomotive. You can feel the power of it. When it starts really singing you feel like it would plow through anything.

As far as pulling the strings on one, I don't have much trouble in light or moderate wind but if it starts to heat up a bit that big chute wears on me pretty quickly. I can still do it, but not very effectively. By the third or fourth set in wind at 15 or more I am pretty much just hanging on to the sheet. I wish I could tell you differently but my upper body strength is just not the same as a man's.

If you knew me, you would know how much it kills me to admit that.

If a girl is going to be really good crew for this boat I think she would have to be serious about it. It is not something I could just do casually and expect to do well in heavier air.

I am getting my weights out after I post this.

Patsy Shafer has kicked many a Man's butt, crewing on the Inter 20, sometimes in big wind too! And I would say she is built as petite as they come.

FL 320 Does Exist!

New RVSM rules. (I use it all the time)

Ah, new rule. They were talking about combining the flight levels to ease congestion, but I had no clue. I went to college to work at a center controlling, but decided that I wouldn't make a good controller. I have the attention span of a gopher. Hey look! Something shiny! <img src="http://www.catsailor.com/forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif" alt="" />

Agree!!!

Less whining, more trimming

Yes, that is "flight level three two zero" and it exists up there around 32,000 feet... ish. <img src="http://www.catsailor.com/forums/images/graemlins/smirk.gif" alt="" />