Dinghy Sailing

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For The Tillerman. Yes, It's Another Freaking Video!

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[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_R_kXEjy16U&hl=en&fs=1]

I know, I know. What can I say, one video leads to another and then to another. It's endless. Here's a vid for our ole Grand Dad to watch while he shivers next to his radiator. Perk up Frosty, it features your beloved boat. I'll give it to you, the Laser is a joy to jibe...cough, cough, cough.

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I Wonder What The Tillerman Thinks?

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The Objective...
To select a Bladerider Moth for the Men's Single Hander Event in the 2012 Olympics.

I hate to say this, no way Jose or I should say, no way Rohan. The Laser is still the best boat for this event. To quote the folks at Scuttlebutt, "..is there a class that meets the Olympic ideal better than the Laser? Affordable, available, athletic, unpretentious… it is the easiest “next step” for youth sailors, and with Olympic status, it has become a legitimate landing point for elite sailors to pursue excellence."

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Spotted On The Bay. Not Again Damn It!

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Curses! Not a Force 5 in sight.



The dreaded sailors have come to conquer the Bay.



Where is the Tillerman? His evil minions are leaderless without his presence. Many were seen capsized, confused and flopping around the water.



The 2008 North American Laser Championship is underway at the St. Francis Yacht Club. It runs until the 27th. If you are in the Bay Area come on down to East Beach [Crissy Field] in San Francisco to watch the action. It was spectacular on Thursday.

Photos: Joe Rouse

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Force Five Friday.

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Oops, that's not a Force 5, it's a Megabyte.
It seems a lot of former Banshee and Force 5 sailors are making the transition over to the Megabyte. It seems to fit the bill. A boat that can be sailed solo or with a passenger.

Long before Farr Yacht Design Ltd. established its presence as one of the preeminent designers of offshore racing yachts, Bruce Farr and partner Russ Bowler had already established themselves as world class dinghy designers and helmsmen. While a dinghy design by the Farr office might be a surprise to some, it was not to Ian Bruce. Himself an international calibre dinghy sailor, and one of the owners of Performance Sailcraft, he just happened to be looking for a new boat for his company.

Ian was looking for a boat that would fill the demand he was getting for a boat in which parents could take their children on the water and teach them how to sail. The Byte, which he designed, was too small having been designed for the 100 - 150 lb. sailor. Therefore, what he was looking for was a boat that could carry some "serious weight" with a proper cockpit laid out for two people, but with the simplicity of a single sail. It would have no wires holding up the mast and would have a lightweight, tapered, carbon fiber tube. It would be very fast, yet, it would be a pleasure to sail. In addition, it would be light enough (130lbs) to throw up on the car top making it a truly recreational product.

Finally, and for purely selfish reasons, he wanted a boat that sailors well over 200 lbs could singlehand competitively with rig controls that make the boat easy to de-power, a sort of "Gentleman’s Finn"!

The fact that the Megabyte is an attractive, very fast yet stable, exciting boat was a "given" from day one with Bruce Farr and Russ Bowler behind the design of the boat.

Specifications:
Length: 14ft. 3ins.
Beam: 5ft. 2ins.
Sail Area: 100 sq.ft.
Weight (Car Top): 130lbs.

Optimum Singlehanded Weight: 225lbs.

Optimum Doublehanded Weight: 200-400lbs.

Construction: Glass Reinforced Polyester/
Foam Sandwich

Sailcloth: 2 Mil mylar/polyester scrim
Dimension Polyant PM05Technorati Tags: ,

Say It Ain't So, Joe!

From Nemesis:

Hey Joe. Check out http://www.force5sailboats.com/history.htm

According to this history of the Force 5 on the current manufacturer's website it was actually Pearson who stopped making Force 5's when they acquired the rights to make the Laser. So when Pearson sold out to SLI the Force 5 as a viable product was already "dead". No wonder SLI decided to concentrate on the Laser.

Oh the agony, oh the horror, to be betrayed by one's own kith and kin is the deepest cut. And for what? The Laser?

Howl, howl, howl, howl! O, you are men of stones:
Had I your tongues and eyes, I'ld use them so
That heaven's vault should crack. She's gone for ever!
I know when one is dead, and when one lives;
She's dead as earth. Lend me a looking-glass;
If that her breath will mist or stain the stone,
Why, then she lives.

"A plague upon you, murderers, traitors all!"
Pearson sailboats went out of business in 1991.