First, a big welcome to our newest builder / member, Karl Schulmeisters.
Karl is another past 49er sailor from Seattle. He and I sailed against one
another during the 49er peak years.
I hope everyone had a great Christmas!
Regarding fleet growth:
Seattle and Vancouver BC have become the two fastest growing areas for
Swifts. Both places have benefited from the pool of both keel boat and dinghy
sailors and will soon have legitimate Swift Solo fleets. The advantage for
these areas are partially the result of continuing exposure to Swifts over
several years. For those who are interested in starting fleets in other
locations, one of the best things you can do is likely to keep your Swift in
front of
the sailing community week after week. You'll be surprised how cooperative
other classes are for club events if you ask to race with them (preferably
505's or 49er's or I-14's or some other quick class). The speed, beauty, and
relative ease of sailing go a long way toward helping sailors realize that
there is an exciting alternative that doesn't require coordination with
someone
elseâs schedule.
The supply of commercially built Swifts is a problem that we'll need to
address in the next year or so to ensure continued rapid growth. There are
currently no used Swifts for sale. In Seattle and some other places, the
demand
exceeds the supply (we have Kris booked for a while yet). Hopefully we'll be
able to discuss possible solutions in July at Huntington Lake. By then, we
should have a better handle on the number of commercial Swifts being built
verses the demand. At that time we can better determine if the shortage will
likely spread as Swifts are introduced and sailed in other places around the
world and formulate an appropriate plan to deal with it.
Thanks to everyone for your concern over my recent health issues. I'm happy
to report that recovery is going well and I plan to be stronger than ever at
Huntington (are you listening Kris?)
Have a great new year.
Bram
PS I've attached a copy of the latest forestay PDF
adjustable forestay.pdf
Description: Adobe PDF document
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