I'm in.

I've always wondered why the Alter Cup is always on a two person boat, never Mano -a- mano.

A good crew can make an average skipper look very good, and vice versa. The next Alter Cup will be on Vipers, they could race them solo, or maybe use the Nacra F17, Waves or an A cat. It might be a problem getting any one manufacturer to supply 10 brand new A cats though.

Racing solo with a spinnaker in big wind is what separates the men from the boys, but I might just be a little biased.

(that's a joke, I don't want anyone getting their panties in a wad over this, we all know how they separate the men from the boys in Texas...)

Actually that is not true. We often do 3 to 4 boats on one tow.

We tie the line to the centre of the beach dolly axle and leave lots of line at the unsecured end. This can then be tied to next boat. And so on. Basically the only limitation is the number of boats that can be placed in the flat spot in front of the winch.

Wouter

Thanks for the full story Wouter, it is an impressive set up, but then all your cat clubs over there are fantastic!

Is that all you got. I'm 81 lbs. 4' 2" soaking wet, and I righted my stilletto 27 7 times by myself while drinking a half gallon of rum during a hurricane. You buncha sissies aren't man enough to carry my limes.DDOOOHHHHH!
Tawd

I read in one of your responses re solo righting that you can solo right the nacra 20....Do you stand on the dagger board to accomplish a solo right ? I thought that the weight would break or damage the dagger bd . please advise ! thanks Bill

I used to stand on it, yes. I didn't jump up and down but just stood there until the mast tip came up out of the water.

I have great confidence in the Inter 20 daggers, they are quite heavy and seem very solid, I have not heard of one failing except maybe if run aground very hard, but even then I know several who have done that and their boards didn't break. The Inter 20 is a very solid boat overall, there are many that have done the Worrell/Tybee several times over.

Additionally, the I-20 daggerboards operate under 100 kg sideways load when a 150 kg crew is double trapped and lifting the luff hull while sailing straight. During cornering the loads can easily increase significantly. I'm guessing by as much as another 100 kg.

But the best story I have is of some prototype Blade F16 daggerboard. These same maker did the daggerboards for the 2007 Alter Cup Blades. He tested a new way of producing the boards. The new ones are 1.6 kg per boards (less then 4 lbs) and are theirfor about halve the weight of an (minimum weight) F18 daggerboard (as required by their class rules). He challenged me to jump up and down on the tip with the board clamped in tight and raised above the floor. I dared not to make a real effort so he said :"let me do it". No he is a 100 kg guy (220 lbs) and I say him oscillate up an down by as much as 10 inches, on the very tip, and the board took it without any complaints.

That is when I realized what kind of loads these boards can take when they are well designed and produced with great care. It was very impressive. But I don't think all catamaran builders put the same amount of attention into their products; So I'm still not advicing you to try this at home !

Wouter

I slipped off Karl's hull with my "fancy" (read: 11 year old) surf booties while righting it at Hirams, and bounced off the lower daggarboard and it didn't break. I'm 6'1" and 185 lbs. More of a glancing blow to the daggar than a full on "cannon ball" type hit, but nonetheless...

Both Karl & my first thought was "s!" I hopre I didn't break something!

There is nothing under built on the N20! Except for that batch of rudders they used at the Alter Cup.

2002 Nacra I-20 Sail #1001

http://www.biztoolsone.com/i20/index.html

Thats a fast boat. I raced against that boat for the last couple years and it always beat me :P

The driver beats you not the boat... But I do love the pics that have been posted of this boat so that I can compare the rigging to mine! Thanks!

I thought the :P indicated the sarcasm in my statement, that communicated the idea that you conveyed

May I offer its the crew that beats you on the N20....

Nah, it's the driver :P

right...its the crew that gets the beatin'

If it's the driver, I'm not grinding the main sheet anymore!

Oh, you've only just begun to grind! ;-)

Having the crew grind the main is passe (pronounced 'pass-ay') already. We've now hired trained chimps to do it for us.

Gets kinda hairy when they try to eat your face when they get fed up with the game tho.