About the training camp, or the Viper?

I think Wouter is hoping you bought a Viper!

Nope, not yet. I might though. Of the F16's it is currently my favorite.

Come on down. We at GYC can take turns kickin' your butt!

(I know! But it's raining and I can't get into the garden.)

Actually, I'm interested in both !

What do you think of the Viper ?

And what kind of tricks did you learn from Robbie ?

Wouter

No tricks really, just how to be less of a hack at the tiller. Learned how to taper a main sheet and do some basic splices. Now I kinda wish I had taken notes. I learned alot on the water and off. We did alot of tacking drills, starts, and parking drills where Robbie video taped us, then picks it apart that evening. Not having anything else to draw experience from I'd say he's a top notch coach, and he's a really nice guy. I will definetly be doing another training camp with him in the future.

The Viper is a slick unit. Very well made from the looks of it, the finish quality is excellent.
-I don't care for the tiller connectors at the x-bar, or the extension. Those rubber widgets make the steering feel heavier than it probably is.
-The daggerboard trunks are awesome, nice carpeted opening, and the boards go up and down really easily. The line to pull them up is a awesome idea too.
-Its probably overbuilt, which is better than the inverse. Tradgically we ran it aground hard on a reach, and I don't think we broke anything.
-I've heard that the weight isn't really that out of the realm of reality. This could be heresy, but I've heard that the Falcon weight is given as 1up, with a carbon stick.
-Everything is laid out pretty well. The Capricorns now have a setup where when you release the spin halyard it also releases the tack, I think that's something that would be good for the Viper as well.
-Huge bows, that thing has some serious volume up front. I didn't get much time in the Gulf with it and the wind wasn't very heavy so I can't really say much on how well it works.
-The downhaul system is kinda goofy, and would take some getting used to, as far as rigging it/assembling the boat goes. Its nice because it goes under the tramp and keeps things cleaned up, but it is difficult to adjust when sitting on the hull with it on the edge of the hull. Where if its on the mast its in the way, be easy to reach.
-Very stiff, I like those big beams.

BTW, I used the 30 second suggestion while on vacation this last week. I got to sail nearly every day for 1-3 hours.

I found it to be very helpful. I haven't looked at the GPS tracks yet, but I felt I made smoother, faster tacks. Just looking at my watch, I think I was back up to speed in around 18 seconds at the end.

Glad it helped. Keep at it.

I have to agree that training with Robbie is most excellent, the best coaching I've had by a good margin.

One thing that I still need to do per the clinic is to raise my trap handle as high as it can and still reach it. You want your arm straight when you reach for it. If it is low then your arm is already bent and its hard to lift yourself up.

Hope this makes sense. Ed