What do you guys think of the Weta?

Bill just an FYI there's one at Sail Newport

Cute. Needs lots of wind.

No trapeze

They have a following.

http://forums.sailinganarchy.com/index.php?showtopic=97141

I sailed against one in light air with the HT, and lapped him a couple of times. Looks like fun in a breeze though....

Dave

some good video on youtube

and there's a yahoo forum

i have had a nacra 5.2 for 3 years and a weta for 3 weeks

my 17' nacra is faster but more stressful as i sail solo and can't right it by myself

i tend not to take out people on the nacra unless i know they are going to do what they told if i start yelling orders and they are useful in a tip over

that rules out other people's kids

the weta is much easier to sail and i'll take out other people's kids as i know i won't need to yell at them or need them to help right the boat

the furling reacher is a blast

my fave weta videos

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Vy6GRRvCaTY&feature=fvsr

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jxSK1-8Ik0Y

and my virtual sailing weta video

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u-kFg4cncnA

"i tend not to take out people on the nacra unless i know they are going to do what they told if i start yelling orders and they are useful in a tip over

that rules out other people's kids"

Are you serious?

Barb? Is there room in your Wave sailing class for this guy?

If you ever need to yell, you're doing it wrong.

So I guess physical beating is right out, eh? You leave me with no other tools of persuasion....

I am doing it wrong!!!

PS great video Eric

You realize you are talking to the Captain of Team Child Abuse, right? I never need to yell, I just give them -the look-!

;^)

You never drove for Maj. Slaughter. He only responds to a stick whacked across the back of his head.

He claims I sent his head through the boom at his last Steeplechase by jerking the tiller to windward when he was coming off the wire, and that was the only time I got him to respond.

I personally think that reverse image of the Southern Spars logo looks good on his forehead (aka the "downhaul tattoo")

Eric,
ever tried standing on the ends of the boards to get her back up? May need an under tramp stabilizing rope from the aft beam to not lose your balance and fall forwards when righting in bigger waves. Works like magic for me. Otherwise a power pole may be just the ticket!

Dennis (also on a Nacra 5.2)

working on my righting pole Dennis, i've got a thin windsurfer mast and a thick mast and i think this winter i will be able to put the thin top of 1 into the thick base of the other and make a telescoping pole to give me some real leverage

i have ventured out on to end of my board before but when i go over here it is usually some random gust near a wind sheltered pointand not a consistent strong wind. have tried bouncing a little on the board but it felt like it would break

it's on a small lake and it's never hard to call up my boat club owner friend by mobile or ask a fisherman or wake-boarder to lift the mast tip a couple of meters

but even if i COULD right it solo i think i would still be nervous about taking someone else's 5 year old for a sail

we get these massive gusts tearing down from the mountains at pretty much any angle that can flip the boat if i'm distracted and even if a kid were to just fall off when it was nuking a solo pick-up of crying baby isn't guaranteed to go perfectly...

the 5.2 is a fun boat and i enjoy sailing it as if it's a double weight A cat with jib

i just don't enjoy taking other people out on it if they require special attention

kind of like someone's 5 year old asking for a pillion ride on my ducati, all care and no responsibility doesn't seem enough

but the weta so far seems to be vice-less

i've been caught by big gusts when i've had the reacher in tight for broad reaches and it handled it much better than the nacra does

with the cat you are trying to fly 1 hull and then if you suddenly get a 3x wind strength blast the whole boat is more than happy to simply rotate around the hull in the water. and very quickly that simple rotation can become unstoppable as that loooooooooooooooong heavy mast takes control

the same side-on blast doesn't upset the weta so much as even though it is 3 feet shorter than the 5.2 it is 4 feet wider. but the blast does hit and buries the leeward ama, which at speed tends to trigger a slow nose dive on that side. much slower than the nacra as the leeward ama's buried buoyancy is fighting to get back up again

so you've got this slow pitchpole happening which slows down instead of speeds up as the 5kg mast never takes over as the longer 20kg mast does on the nacra

so you seem to have plenty of time to pull yourself up to the back corner and force the boat back flat

so back to the original Q

how do i find the weta?

less nerve racking than soloing a 30year old 2 man race boat on a gusty mountain lake

easier to get in and out of the water on it's dolly

and more relaxing to take non-sailing passengers out on

your mileage may vary