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GC review and thank you ALL #196795
11/18/09 01:53 PM
11/18/09 01:53 PM
Joined: Sep 2001
Posts: 267
Switzerland
alutz Offline OP
enthusiast
alutz  Offline OP
enthusiast

Joined: Sep 2001
Posts: 267
Switzerland
First of all I just wanted to say, thank you all, who made it possible for us, to come over and enjoy the racing with you guys and gals!
We had terrific time and enjoyed every moment! Thanks allot for the great hospitality!
Now back in the office it still lightens me up when I think back.

Here a little review:
We arrived Saturday late in Gulfport and were welcomed by Tim and his friends.
We headed straight for some well earned beers at a bar some where out of town.

Next Day we got the boat ready to sail. It was blowing quite allot so we hesitated a little to go out.
I didn't want to go over at first moment out ;-} and break something.
Martin and I haven't sailed together before and I have never sailed the Blade with out the grinder Tim on the main.
The jib thing is definitely new for me too. Bloody Swiss 18HT sailors don't know sh...

The next day it was still blowing, but allot less than the day before and the practice race was on.
It was good sailing and we capsized only once....
We definitely needed the practice day.

During the racing days, we had mixed results and improved slightly.
After some races we felt quite safe in the high winds and we capsized only once during the rest of the days.
Upwind we were quite fast and Downwind too as long we didn't stuffed it too much.

Every night the Gulfport Yacht Club provided good dinners and lots of beer.
If not, we went out too the local restaurants and bars. O Madys does a great Mahi Mahi!

On the last day, the wind was much lighter.
It was good to see that Matt and Gina on the Falcon were finally on fire.
They had an honourable last day with two seconds and one first.
I thought that the Vipers would suffer more due to the higher weight, but not so much at all.

Matt and Gina had many issues with their boat, like loosing a pin from the shrout (mast down) and other minor things.
Preparation is part of the game and Matt was helping everyone out and forgot about his own boat.

So all in all we arrived on 6th place and where the first non viper in the ranking shocked.
This was due to the many issues Matt and Gina had. They would have kicked our ...

Last edited by alutz; 11/18/09 03:51 PM.

Andi, Switzerland
Team OST
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Re: GC review and thank you ALL [Re: alutz] #197047
11/19/09 04:55 PM
11/19/09 04:55 PM
Joined: Nov 2009
Posts: 5
Bern, Switzerland
MartinS Offline
stranger
MartinS  Offline
stranger

Joined: Nov 2009
Posts: 5
Bern, Switzerland
Hello Everybody

I fully agree with Andy (my Helmsman) and thank all the people from the GYC for this great event. My face gets allways a big smile when i find a grain of sand between my toes. Unfortunately the sand will soon be replaced by snow which is pretty close to the place where i live.

It was a very nice experiance to sail a Formula 16 HP boat - i'm really impressed of the performance and the speed of the boats. Hope to see you soon again guys.

Greetings from Switzerland

Martin

Re: GC review and thank you ALL [Re: alutz] #197141
11/20/09 12:54 PM
11/20/09 12:54 PM
Joined: Jul 2005
Posts: 465
Oxford, UK
pdwarren Offline
addict
pdwarren  Offline
addict

Joined: Jul 2005
Posts: 465
Oxford, UK
Great to meet you guys. Hopefully you'll see me at Texel next year smile

GYC laid on a great event, and the Florida weather is a very nice change from what the UK has to offer at this time of year.

One of the reasons I was keen to do this event was to get a chance to test drive the Falcon and see how it compares to my Blade, as from the description it addresses just about all the niggles I have with the Blade, particularly when sailing 2-up (more volume up front, higher beams, bigger jib).

The end result is a boat that feels a lot more like a bigger boat. Upwind, flying a hull with two people on the wire feels a lot more relaxed, with more reserve bouyancy and less chance of the beams "tripping" on waves. Downwind the extra bouyancy makes it easier to push on in a blow.

I did have a brief sail singlehanded on the Falcon, and in this mode the differences are less pronounced, although the wind was lighter on that day too.

Matt's also done a great job with all the systems on the boat. The mast rotation quick release using a swivel cleat mounted on the back of the mast is particularly effective.

As the Swiss guys demonstrated, there's nothing slow about the Blade, and I think that the Falcon is a great evolution of the design.

Paul

Last edited by pdwarren; 11/20/09 12:55 PM.
Re: GC review and thank you ALL [Re: pdwarren] #197155
11/20/09 02:12 PM
11/20/09 02:12 PM
Joined: Jul 2007
Posts: 976
France
pepin Offline
old hand
pepin  Offline
old hand

Joined: Jul 2007
Posts: 976
France
So Paul, have you placed an order already?

smile


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