I figured I'd start a thread for all the haters to post tripe about the venerable Nacra 20, since it seems to be the fashionable thing to trash on it now.
Chuck all ready had the first post at the awards.
Fire away!

Huh, what? Someone is going to have to pry my Nacra 20 tiller out of my hands cause I'm not planning on letting go anytime soon. I love that boat (I missed the awards ceremony so I could pick up our dog at the Kennel before they charged me another day). What happened at the awards?

There just happened to be a lot of weather this year that really favored the F18 - so what? That's why I don't think handicap scoring a race like this makes sense if the fleet is large enough to be scored by class.

Chuck expressed the motion to "phase out" the Nacra 20 from the Tybee and make it F18 only.

OR...you could start a "fix the F18 P-number" type thread.

I knew I shouldn't have taken you off the ignore list.

I talked to Chuck after the awards re those comments. The bottom line is this, as long as we I-20s keep showing up in numbers and supporting the race, we are going to be in it. So that part is up to us. The other thread of this argument is how do we get Nacra to open up the sail plan (as it apparently is in Europe) to make us more competitive and sail design evolves, and or hold Elliot Patterson more accountable for quality control it this is in fact a real issue. I do agree we all put alot of extra stress on our spins this year with our tight double traps as we tried to follow the f-18s upwind, and this could certainly have led to failure.

So how do we open up the I-20 to box rules for sail design???

Man, you are quick! Just throwing some love atcha Davey Poo! Take it as the joke it was meant please.

I've got an idea, since both Mishca and JC have won this race on the I20, ASK THEM which boat they think is faster. I'm certain if they had both been on I20's this time they would have come in 1-2 no matter how many f18's you put in their way. Of course, due to their current sponsorship status, they probably can't tell you what they really think.

Call me.

Oh. Great. I sure am glad that Chuck sold us that 20 last year.

Personally, I see a big fat cart sitting in front of a horse there - until you start to run out of boat slots, why would you even consider such an announcement? Do the F18's not like to race with 20s? I hope next year will be another good year - but I wouldn't be so sure of myself that this year's good attendance wasn't an irregular happening (which was definitely based on the efforts of a few of the sailors themselves). If they're back to 8 boats next year because the 20's feel like they've been mistreated - what are they going to do then?

When is the Great Texas?

We get together as an owners association and start controlling our own destiny, instead of letting the "Class Assoc." (jack, mark Biggers, Skip Elliott,) keep gouging and jerking us around.Since Performance was bought by Euorpeans, they don't seem to have a care in the world for the N-20 anymore( no viable F-20 class in Europe) , except to jack our prices to the sky.

Any N-20 owner's that have an interest in this should PM me with contact info, so we can at least get a database of owner's together.

Larry,
Chuck's got an agenda, history repeats itself. This exact situation was where the Tybee 500 was born.Now he's acting exactly like his nemesis and the end result is bound to be the same.

Todd Hart

I think building an owner's group and starting some discussion is a good idea but let's not jump to any conclusions on sails, manufacturers, parts, etc. There are a lot of pros and cons with any change of that nature.

My thoughts on the subject are over at velocitysailing.com


Anyone trying to contact me today, please be aware that the Atlantic claimed my cellphone this week. Even waterproof hardcases are no match for this race. I'll try to get it replaced today.

$187 for a snuffer sock.Just the frickin' sock!
$28 for a gudgeon bolt
$11,000 for a mast
12 sails checked in with the race committee to be replaced.

If I'm jumping to conclusions it's not a very big leap.

Just remember the fate of the 6.0NA.

Conclusion is there has been a recent spinnaker issues that EP is well aware of and (so far) seems very willing to address. Pricing is a problem. An owner's association can work with the manufacturer to bring all this back down to reason.

All I'm saying is that unleashing a bazooka on the current class rules (although it would feel good) may not be the only solution.

All you guys with blown chutes (like me), please get in touch with me. EP's offer of "fixing my chute and stitching the seams" is not going to cut it.

velocitytrey (at) gmail.com

I'm glad this thread is going and that folks are thinking about working as owners to get to the right solution, whatever that is. The N20 is a great boat and it needs sails that match the boat's capabilities.

I was disappointed in the kite breakdowns and felt they were undeserved. I've sailed on a lot of boats, and the way we treated our kite was no different than hard racing on any boat. The new "Ronald McDonald" kite (whose coloring I grew to like in the videos) that Tad and I sailed was so much more unstable than our old one. The sheet loads were much higher. We didn't realize how good the old one was until switching back to it from sailing with the new one for a few days and suffering two failures. The new kite was good at a lake, but not on Tybee.

I sailed Trey's new blue kite a bit after the final finish on Saturday and was impressed by it - it seemed to be somewhere in the middle between our old one and new one.

That kind of variance is not good for a high end performance boat.

I think people really need to realsise something here.

Mischa Heemskerk won the race not a F18, Mischa is one of the World's best cat sailors, and through my reckoning he would of won it on a 20 or a F18. The sailors are the most important thing on a boat.

If you really wanted to ask Mischa i am sure he would give you his unbiased thoughts to which was best because he is one of the most genuine guys i have met.

Maybe we all ready did!

This thread is not about Mischa or an F-18.
Your right he is an extremely genuine, intelligent and funny guy.

One more demand for change
The Pirates of the Chesapeake way in!

I just ordered a new sock from ahpc... 145 + shipping.... my old one is about 1 year old.... and shredding! It was made out of mylar sail cloth... not sure why. this new one will be under a tarp. i have learned.