Re: [bolger] Sharpies and Upwind Performance
Ross, I don't save many of the posts from the Bolger fora, but I am going to save yours.
I too haven't raced or more properly, skippered, since I was in college in the earliest 70's. I attended a reunion regatta over Bastille Day in Iowa, a regatta which I founded, and got at least two DFLs out of the three races I sailed. I was even in the lead in one of the races, but the fleet passed me by. In spite of my two DFLs, I had a good time. If I was still living in Iowa, I'd begin racing again. There's still plenty I don't know. The guy who used to win most of the races back then still wins most of the races today, if he shows up.
They have a secondary rating system now, Johnson Points. Your vessel achieves one Johnson Point each time it crosses the finish line with it's crew naked. I was in a six way tie for first in Johnson Points. Why we didn't have Johnson Points back in the 70's is a mystery to me.
Phil Smith
----- Original Message ----
From: baysidewoodenboats <lillistone@...>
To:bolger@yahoogroups.com
Sent: Monday, January 09, 2006 18:37:21
Subject: [bolger] Sharpies and Upwind Performance
Just remember that there is a lot more to up-wind performance than
the hullform, and to condem a particular hull (e.g. the Featherwind
discussion)without considering the other variables is shortsighted.
Last year I spent a season sailing competetively in my 54 year old
(!) International Finn. The club is a friendly one, and the fleet
mixed - but the competition was real. I had been away from organised
racing since the early seventies, and had spent the last thirty
years telling myself that racing wasn't what it is all about.
I discovered that being humble is important, and that dyed-in-the-
wool cruising people like myself can be just as narrow-minded as the
club racers...
To the point - the difference between being placed in the back of
the (very competetive)fleet at the start of the season, to being a
consistent winner towards the end of the season was entirely a
matter of concentration, research, and rig tuning.
A snapshot at the start of the season would have indicated that the
old Finn, with her flat plate centreboard, un-stayed cat rig, and
30yr old dacron sail was a dog on the upwind legs. However, the
situation at the end of the season saw the boat lifting to windward,
leaving others in her wake.
The only thing that had changed on the boat was my ability.
Ross Lillistone
Bolger rules!!!
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- stay on topic, stay on thread, punctuate, no 'Ed, thanks, Fred' posts
- Pls add your comments at the TOP, SIGN your posts, and snip away
- Plans: Mr. Philip C. Bolger, P.O. Box 1209, Gloucester, MA, 01930, Fax: (978) 282-1349
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I too haven't raced or more properly, skippered, since I was in college in the earliest 70's. I attended a reunion regatta over Bastille Day in Iowa, a regatta which I founded, and got at least two DFLs out of the three races I sailed. I was even in the lead in one of the races, but the fleet passed me by. In spite of my two DFLs, I had a good time. If I was still living in Iowa, I'd begin racing again. There's still plenty I don't know. The guy who used to win most of the races back then still wins most of the races today, if he shows up.
They have a secondary rating system now, Johnson Points. Your vessel achieves one Johnson Point each time it crosses the finish line with it's crew naked. I was in a six way tie for first in Johnson Points. Why we didn't have Johnson Points back in the 70's is a mystery to me.
Phil Smith
----- Original Message ----
From: baysidewoodenboats <lillistone@...>
To:bolger@yahoogroups.com
Sent: Monday, January 09, 2006 18:37:21
Subject: [bolger] Sharpies and Upwind Performance
Just remember that there is a lot more to up-wind performance than
the hullform, and to condem a particular hull (e.g. the Featherwind
discussion)without considering the other variables is shortsighted.
Last year I spent a season sailing competetively in my 54 year old
(!) International Finn. The club is a friendly one, and the fleet
mixed - but the competition was real. I had been away from organised
racing since the early seventies, and had spent the last thirty
years telling myself that racing wasn't what it is all about.
I discovered that being humble is important, and that dyed-in-the-
wool cruising people like myself can be just as narrow-minded as the
club racers...
To the point - the difference between being placed in the back of
the (very competetive)fleet at the start of the season, to being a
consistent winner towards the end of the season was entirely a
matter of concentration, research, and rig tuning.
A snapshot at the start of the season would have indicated that the
old Finn, with her flat plate centreboard, un-stayed cat rig, and
30yr old dacron sail was a dog on the upwind legs. However, the
situation at the end of the season saw the boat lifting to windward,
leaving others in her wake.
The only thing that had changed on the boat was my ability.
Ross Lillistone
Bolger rules!!!
- no cursing, flaming, trolling, spamming, respamming, or flogging dead horses
- stay on topic, stay on thread, punctuate, no 'Ed, thanks, Fred' posts
- Pls add your comments at the TOP, SIGN your posts, and snip away
- Plans: Mr. Philip C. Bolger, P.O. Box 1209, Gloucester, MA, 01930, Fax: (978) 282-1349
- Unsubscribe:bolger-unsubscribe@yahoogroups.com
- Open discussion:bolger_coffee_lounge-subscribe@yahoogroups.com
Yahoo! Groups Links
Just remember that there is a lot more to up-wind performance than
the hullform, and to condem a particular hull (e.g. the Featherwind
discussion)without considering the other variables is shortsighted.
Last year I spent a season sailing competetively in my 54 year old
(!) International Finn. The club is a friendly one, and the fleet
mixed - but the competition was real. I had been away from organised
racing since the early seventies, and had spent the last thirty
years telling myself that racing wasn't what it is all about.
I discovered that being humble is important, and that dyed-in-the-
wool cruising people like myself can be just as narrow-minded as the
club racers...
To the point - the difference between being placed in the back of
the (very competetive)fleet at the start of the season, to being a
consistent winner towards the end of the season was entirely a
matter of concentration, research, and rig tuning.
A snapshot at the start of the season would have indicated that the
old Finn, with her flat plate centreboard, un-stayed cat rig, and
30yr old dacron sail was a dog on the upwind legs. However, the
situation at the end of the season saw the boat lifting to windward,
leaving others in her wake.
The only thing that had changed on the boat was my ability.
Ross Lillistone
the hullform, and to condem a particular hull (e.g. the Featherwind
discussion)without considering the other variables is shortsighted.
Last year I spent a season sailing competetively in my 54 year old
(!) International Finn. The club is a friendly one, and the fleet
mixed - but the competition was real. I had been away from organised
racing since the early seventies, and had spent the last thirty
years telling myself that racing wasn't what it is all about.
I discovered that being humble is important, and that dyed-in-the-
wool cruising people like myself can be just as narrow-minded as the
club racers...
To the point - the difference between being placed in the back of
the (very competetive)fleet at the start of the season, to being a
consistent winner towards the end of the season was entirely a
matter of concentration, research, and rig tuning.
A snapshot at the start of the season would have indicated that the
old Finn, with her flat plate centreboard, un-stayed cat rig, and
30yr old dacron sail was a dog on the upwind legs. However, the
situation at the end of the season saw the boat lifting to windward,
leaving others in her wake.
The only thing that had changed on the boat was my ability.
Ross Lillistone