Hey, if it's not on tape, it never happened!

The very first thing they taught us in the Air Force:

Deny, Deny, Deny. Point fingers and run away!

AHPC (Australian High Performance Catamarans)
Greg was back sailing 2 up...


Did Gregg sail uni on day 2?

http://www.cerclevoilebordeaux.com/regates/resultats-2011/global_f16_g.htm

Yes, Dominique was sick.

The he had finishes of 14,20 and 18? I'm not sure how to interpret that.

I'd interpret that singlehanding the F16 is harder than doublehanding.



Mike

I bow to Gina and Matt!

Fantastic to see Andreas being consistent at that level!

Geert always impress me!

I doubt he practices uni very much. I think it's a pretty good showing.

Greg also did not have a cleat on the mainsheet... Which he would normally do if he was sailing Uni... He ran out of hands..

Yeah, I can see where it would be a little busy with the spin sheet in one hand, main in the other and the tiller between your toes! To say nothing of launching, snuffing and gybing! Must have been quite a sight! Why no cleat on the mainsheet? Is this another one of your Aussie "Speed Tricks"? (that's a joke)

Good job!

I'd have gone on bikini patrol. No cleat on the main would have been undoable for me.

Looks like Matt and Gina started mixing it up starting in race 6.

Makes me feel a little better to see top sailors struggling to compete Uni against the dual handers, sorry can't see any excuses about having no Uni experiance as he is one of the top A class sailor in the world, my betting he simply ran on the main only AKA A Cat style.

Does prove the point that at some stage we will need to address the difference between the Uni's and duals both in racing terms and more urgently the handicap terms where the Uni rates faster.

Not sure if this is an AUSSIE trick, but Greg (and many of the A-Class or ex A-Class Sailors) prefers to sail with Centre Sheeting, and with no cleat on the main...

But I think Greg has acknowledged that the Viper being sailed Uni needs a cleat!! (Either that or he would have to acknowledge that AGE might be an issue!!)

This was his email message to me after Day 2:
"Well it was a hard day office sailing single handed. Dominique was still very sick this morning - no way she could sail so I decided at the last minute to take the jib off and sail one up. Glad it was not windy as I don't have a cleat on the main sheet and I was running out of hands. My results were pretty poor but I beat all the other cat boats in the last race."

What is the average age of the worlds fleet? I'm thinking it has to be quite low with all the youth sailors.
Greg's crew is 15 so I'm guessing we have the youngest and oldest on the same boat

I know it's harder, but who is actually sailing the F16 singlehanded seriously.

What I mean by this..
1. Are they going out on the weekends practicing against another singlehander or better yet another two up boat.
2. Are they racing on a consistent basis singlehanding?

If I remember correctly, Hans won the the first Global Challenge as a singlehander. Looking at the results, he's not doing that well. Is it because the singlehanders are seriously handicaped, or is no one seriously enough as a singlehander anymore to stay in the top 10-15?

I wanted to add...

I sail UNI most of the time, and I try to do this, but it's very hard to do it.

Mike

I think the sloops have a clear advantage in winds over 10 knots. Still, I'd rather sail at a disadvantage than not sail at all. It isn't as if I'm missing out on any trophies.

I think there is a challenge. For someone who thinks they are a world class sailor, climbing to the top of the F16 world, uni, would be like climbing Everest.

I agree it is much harder to do well uni. I think it takes more practice, a slightly different setup, and it certainly takes more strength / endurance. I'd like to see some talent try it. Greg is obviously accomplished, but was handicapped by not having a cleat. Plus, it's not something you can justnjump into and expect to do well.

I think the potential is there, it just takes more to get there.

"strength / endurance"

That and it takes a lot more skill and understanding, imo. Having an extra pair of eyes makes it easier to pick up shifts, judge laylines and watch for traffic. With only two eyes you would have to really, really know the game to finish near the top.

That's why the next Alter Cup should be sailed on F16's Uni! (I'm kidding, don't go gettn' your panties in a wad again Ding)

But I would like to have the past F16 AC winners (JC, Robie D, etc.) go out and race against each other Uni for a day and report back to us -punters- on what might be a faster setup, rigging and trim wise.

How hard a boat is to sail... has NOTHING to do with a measurement rating.

All you can say is.. Wow... it is damn hard to sail this boat to it's rating in order to beat X who has an easier time sailing his boat to it's rating. Handicap racing sucks (for Ding!)

You could get a bit of data for a PN type rating.. but this is a weak data set with only three uni's.

The PHRF debate to come up with a rating would be ugly!!! (well Greg G is a very good A class sailor and look at how he did compared to xxx... but oh... he had no cleat... ughhhh)

With regard to racing... It comes down to asking the double handed sailors if its really a level playing field for them when you mix in a few singlehanders trying to manage their boat in the turns. Are the single handers really racing the double handers, or are the games quite a bit different.

The real surprise is that the number of single handed racers who want to race with the spin in the world is surprisingly small. (NF17 and F16 unis probably don't add up to 25 at all Continentals 's over the last couple of years.)