Merry Christmas and or happy holidays to everyone Swifty or Mustomen
.its been a great year to meet new people and learn so much about
sailing the Swift , I would like to thank everyone who has helped me
this year and particularly all the crew who went to Fort Desoto. I
thought I would start a list of things learnt with the idea that may be
others would add to so here goes;
1, the best thing about sailing is the friends you meet and keep.
2, Turn up at the Nationals with your boat finished and ready to sail; I
didn't and wasted too many awesome sailing days rigging the boat.
.
3, Go to a Bram clinic the learning curve is unbelievable.
4. Practise on dry land, with the help of friends to sit on the boat,
gets out on the wire sort your foot work out,
5, Kneel on the side tanks on one knee; the forward knee .huge!! Don't
SIT on the tank; it's so much easier to swing out on to the wire.
6, Set the kite before you go out to check the thing fly's correctly
.Bram has a fool (i.e. me) proof method of rigging the kite, but I
forgot it...Bram???
7, Check your plug and hatch covers in the excitement to launch... An
old one but......
8, Find someone to go 2 up with, learnt more in 30 mins with Ron Radco
(thank you) 2 up, than hours of imperfect practice on my own.
9,Don't' be afraid of the kite , pick a light breeze and go for it , it
is easier than it looks .Always steer under the kite as you get over
powered .
10, when you capsize with the kite up ,ALWAYS pull it down ALL THE WAY
DOWN (from the stern ) BEFORE you right the boat Huge!!
11. Capsizing, I like Bram's method of going over the side and between
the jib and the mast and steadying the boat from there, you can step on
the base of the mast almost as soon as the main sail brakes from the
water and if the wind is on the" wrong" side i.e. going to blow you
right over again. You can grab the far shroud and attempt to stop the
roll.
12, Getting up on the center board , This for me is the most difficult
part of sailing the swift, ideas I picked up form Keith Council. (Thanks
Keith)
A, Push your self DOWN as you grab the board the buoyancy in your
jacket will tend to "pop" you out of the water..
B, Pull yourself on to the center board as close to the boat as
possible, this stops the boat from coming up and still leaving you in
the water (this happen to me a lot and this fixes the problem.)
C, Get fit!! Lots of push ups, Keith practices in the swimming pool
pulling up on a diving board!!
D. It is exhausting so Bram's advice is after 5 capsizes in a row
GO IN for a break!!
E, Other guys have there own techniques ,I have tried getting in
over stern, when the boat is upright and you are in the water ,it works
if the wind is light and little or on waves ,one hand on the rudder
stock the other on the transom .Chris Wickham does the under the boat
roll method .Chris ?? Ron Watt I believe goes in over the side but
behind the mast (he so good he never capsizes!!).
13, Drop the main as you come in shore especially a Lee shore or shore
with breakers, I sail off a beach which is always a lee shore and this
simple things has stopped me screwing up!! (Including smacking my rudder
on submerged tree stump, very costly)
!4, Clothing ,I change to a very slim life preserver by 'Jet made for
wakeboarding it has some padding ,I put my harness over the top , that
helps with snags , a couples of the Musto Men had rash shirts over
everything with a hole of the wire hook , it look good ..Guys. IT seems
to be very important to reduce all the possible snag points .When
sailing my Fireball 40 years ago we all wore thin nylon jump suits over
every thing ... ideas Guys ..Photos???
15, Knee pads and shin guards are essential.
16.Make sure your center board and rudder will not fall out when you are
inverted ,very embarrassing and has happen to my twice !!! , once I
lost the center board and sail to shore with out it ... the wrong
shore!! I used the rudder to get the boat right side up (tricky) and
then run off down wind. I was on a large lake 15knots wind and no other
boats out!! I was using a smaller main and in my excitement to get out I
forgot to tie in the board. The other time my rudder fell out as with
use the lining in the cassette has worn. Both are now tied in..
That's enough for now, please feel free to , add , comment or trash .I
think I'm heading to San Diego to find some warm water and a fair wind
.......
Paul O'Sullivan
Catlin Properties
3620 Fair Oaks Blvd, Ste 150
Sacramento, CA 95864
(916) 485-8900 x.234
(916) 599-1572 cell
paul@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
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