We had a really nice weekend regatta at Jericho, even with the light air and
big tide conditions. When you mix Canadian hospitality with good food in a
super facility with a great bunch of guys, you're going to have a lot of
fun.
What a mix of boats in our class (high performance X-class)!
The Voodoo did show up as did the Hoot, the Musto (Ron), two Swifts, a
single handed 29er, a single handed B-14 and an Inter 20, . Unfortunately, we
had
5 races in non-trapping weather ( 2-5 knots). Michael France sailing a 29er
single-handed won every race, I was second in every race and the Musto was
third in every race I think.
While Michael used some local knowledge to his advantage, he and his 29er
were definitely faster off the wind in these displacement mode conditions than
the other boats, including the Swift. He was as fast as anyone to weather as
well. The Hoot had moments of speed to weather as did the Voodoo.
Generally, the Swift was at the weather mark second -- just behind the 29er.
Off the
wind these were not good conditions for the Hoot (no kite). The Voodoo has
some teething issues to get over as it capsized quite a few times both with
and
without the kite. They will need some time to get this boat sorted out (as
you should expect).
The B-14 (single handed) seemed quite fast to weather as it reached the
first mark with the Swift and 29er a couple of times. These were not
conditions
that favored the Inter 20âeven with the massive sail area (including kite).
Generally, not much should be read into these results unless you always
races in extremely light air. The Hoot seems like a nice boat and would have
been fun to see in a breeze. For a non-trapeze cat rigged single-hander, I
think it will be a factor in the market.
In the end, it was impressive to see all of these classes together. Watching
the Voodoo reminded me of the earliest days of the Swift when I was sorting
everything out and trying to learn how to sail an untried and unproven
design. It will take persistence and another year of R&D to really see what
this
boat can do. Don't write it off!
Best regards,
Bram
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