Jul 17 2012
Fleet Racing at TBYC
I’d like to start by saying that we all know that TBYC is a brilliant venue, with great water, clubhouse and facilities.
At the club there is good fleet racing for cadets, catamarans and keelboats. When looking at the boats racing at the club it appears that there is a bit of a gap in terms of fleet racing opportunities for monohulls. On a given day there could be many different monohull classes racing, with perhaps one or two of each class. This seems to be a trend in dinghy racing across the country, with people less willing to travel to open meetings for class racing. (19 boats at 2012 mirror inlands, and 15 boats at the last RS 200 open meeting).
I feel that a really good way forward for the monohull sailors at thorpe bay, would be for us to start a fleet of one class which is accessible to all, fun to race, and relatively cheap to run. When i had an RS 400 on the grass at the club a few weeks ago – many people came up to me and said what a brilliant boat it was and how “I’d get one of them if there were a couple at the club that raced”. I’m not suggesting that we all go out and sell our carefully chosen classes, to get a 400 – but just wonder how many people would be interested in getting some good fleet racing going in a monohull at the club. I would suggest that many people could learn from others in a fleet.
I personally would race anything against the same boat in a fleet as opposed to sail a brilliant boat against the clock (perhaps as the sandhopper fleet has demonstrated?). Obviously many others wouldn’t have this opinion!
Well if anyone else is thinking something similar then reply here or drop me an email on
grahamjs@rocketmail.com
Graham Sexton
I totally agree with your comments. Class sailing is so much better than handicap racing against different classes. I also think that the RS400 is a great boat. I shared one with my son a few years ago and found it to be a really good boat to sail – no trapeze and all the fun of a large asymetric spinnaker. As you say, the Sandhopper fleet (whatever you may think of the sailors!!) has shown that class sailing makes for much more enjoyable racing and you always know where you are in the fleet.
William Daly
class racing is fantastic as there is always discussion with handicap racing, we already have an excellent sprint fleet who are the most active, followed by the sandhoppers (we have 40 boats) we have the laser fleet and the fevas as well as over 70 picos. the 400 is a great boat and we did have a fleet of 200 and 400s which moved on a few years ago. would be worth trying to fit into an existing fleet, if you want to create one you need at least 10 people to sign up and get the boats as you will only get 50% out on average.
good luck with whatever class you run with, if you want to have a go in a sandhopper let me know and i will arrange it for you.
all the best.
Just to update on this topic. Several people have emailed their interest in this idea, and others have expressed an interest in person. Still just waiting to see how many in total we could get together.
Agree with you. I’d love to be involved, great boat and great idea. My only letdown is I’ve been p-poor at getting down to the club of late. But would love to make up the numbers as and when I can.
This is absolutely why the Sandhopper fleet is so successful. Fleet racing really does afford you the opportunity of pitting yourself against other crews without the difference of boats muddying the water. On the Shoreline race, following 2 hours of battle, the first boat finished 20 seconds or so ahead of the next 3, who all finished within 4 seconds of each other. One of those boats was Peter Thompson’s ‘new’ purchase, Prey, No17, not touched for several years, but still very competitive in the hands of the right person. I know it is lovely to have ‘the perfect boat for you’, but the racing in a handicap fleet is so often decided by the conditions as each boat has their perfect wind. There are, i know, those who want to ‘pit themselves against the boat’ more than race tactically against identical craft, but there will always be more demanding fleets at the top end…49er for instance.
Had the 400 been the fleet in the club, i am sure i would not have gone through a Condor, a Hurricane, a laser and 2 contenders, before settling on a Sandhopper. I think you are absolutely right, but there seem to be many out there who will not be put off their individualistic, one-off machines…
Good luck with this!
Rupert
Thanks for all the positive responses I have had from people on this subject; with quite a few emails and several people expressing an interest in the dinghy park. Hopefully something can be organised in the near future to try and overcome this problem.
Thanks for all the positive responses on this topic so far. I have had quite a few emails, and people expressing their interest in the dinghy park. Hopefully the issue could be taken further in the future.