Just got home from a great week of sailing with Anders Petersson and his
Asymmetrical International Canoe.
The sailing was about as good as it gets with winds always between 10 and 17
knots except at the head of the Lake where it often dropped to 4 or five
knots. The water was very flat and fairly warm because of daytime tempatures
in
the 80's. What an incredible thrill as we both felt that the conditions
produced downwind speeds that exceeded our previous experience.
The AC is definitly faster to weather than the Swift. Even allowing that
Anders is a world class sailor and that I used the cut down 49er sails and a
low aspect blade, I don't see the Swift matching the speed of the AC in a blow
to weather (we'll come much closer, however). Downwind, we had extraordinary
racing as both boats seemed evenly matched in both speed and handling. It
was thrilling to blast down this narrow lake at unbelievable speeds, gybing
kites--boat for boat. In addition to downwind, two sail reaching is the real
strength of the Swift Solo and Huntington brought to my attention once again
the need to incorporate reaching legs in our racing. The boat handles very
well on both sides of the twilight zone even in a blow (on the lower side of
the
zone you need to keep the boat flat).
I've never sailed at a less intimidating place since the launching area has
no wind until you get out about 20 yards from shore.
We both had a great time and intend to meet again next summer at Huntington.
The International Canoe class has a great ambassador in Anders. He has a
great mind for our sport and it was both educational and a lot of fun to spend
five days with him.
Ken Bradon spent a couple of days with us as well (USA 028). Ken came up to
watch the sailing and to take pictures. Both Anders and I enjoyed his
company and feel the Swift Solo Class is fortunate to have his energy and
enthusiasm. Ken is obviously a very good athlete and could be a threat after
some
time in the boat. We hope to post some of his photos on the website soon.
My overall trip was cut short by a knee problem that showed up on the drive
18 hour drive home (caused by a ridiculous capsize in 10 knots of wind). I'm
hopping around on crutches and will likely be out of commission for a couple
of weeks--so no Port Townsend sailing for now. It'll give me a chance to
publish the "how to sail a Swift Solo" manual. Yes, I'm aware of the irony.
A lot of you guys are getting close to Champaign time. We received deposits
for 16 2/3 suits of sails for this first order. I can't begin to tell you
how excited I am about the prospect of having more than 10 boats sailing at
Higgins Lake this September.
Keep up the good work
Best regards to all of you,
Bram
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