Pepe,
Always good to hear from you. I hope this latest round of "wonderful
weather" (Dennis) misses your area. Actually, I am a bit jealous of your
weather
since our sailing season has been off and on so far--especially for our
Thursday
evening series.
Regarding your comments about sailing the Swift: First I want to apologize
if I represented that the Swift was an ocean racer suitable for long distance
sailing (I don't remember making those representations, but I'm getting old
and my memory isn't what it used to be). To make this right with you, I want
to compensate you for your time and the fees that you've paid. Simply send a
copy of the statement that I made that suggested the suitability of a Swift
Solo for long distance and or ocean racing along with your hours and hourly
rate and the check will be in the mail.
To make certain that there is no further confusion, let me clarify the
intent of the Swift. It was designed as an around the buoys high performance
skiff and is the easiest to sail of the single-handed skiffs (Ron Radco is the
North American Musto dealer and is a good source of information on this
subject
since he has sailed both the Musto and the Swift. We are lacking comparison
with the other single handed skiff class, the RS 700, but have good reason
to believe that it is similar to the Musto). It was not designed and is not
suited to long distance / ocean racing. Using it for this purpose is
analogous to using a top fuel dragster to go on cross country sight seeing
trips.
Key West to Havana, Victoria to Maui, Transat, Transpac, Around Alone, were
not
considered in the design criteria. The Swift Solo is not an ocean racer or a
long distance racer. A good rule is "if it's blowing more than 10, don't
sail more than 4 miles from the safety of your Yacht Club Bar without an
inflatable chase boat along".
Any intermediate dinghy sailor with reasonable athletic ability and the
patience to work his way up the wind range can learn to sail a Swift. Nobody
new
to skiff sailing should expect to be an expert Swift sailor in their first
season. A more reasonable goal would become proficient in 12 knots of breeze
after the first season, 16 knots in the second season, and 20 knots in the
third. On the other hand, skiff sailors from the I-14 class, the 49er class,
the Aussie 18 class, the Musto class, and probably the RS 700 class can expect
to step into the Swift and become very competitive in a couple of outings.
Experienced 505 sailors should be able to cut these times down. Both
telephone and personal coaching are available to anyone who is having trouble
learning.
Pepe, I wish I could talk you into reading the website postings and the
PDF's that I send out regarding both building and sailing the Swift. I think
they would be helpful in shortening the learning process. On the other hand,
if
you've mastered 15 knots of breeze in less than a half a season, you're
obviously doing better than most sailors from a keel boat background could
hope
for. Hang in there.
Best regards,
Bram
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