So I had my ass handed to me yesterday in 17-20 knots (recorded, not guessed).
The wind wasn't the only contributing factor, I was being a scaredy cat with a lot of traffic around, but it made handling tricky, particularly at any hotted up angles and while trying to go slow (pre-start etc).
What are ppls opinions on chicken rigs? Usefulness, size, shape...
I've seen two recently, a purpose built full height one (higher aspect ratio) and an old KA with the bottom chopped off.
I went through the bottom pannel of my KA in a 25+ southerly change. Clew held on and with the bottom panel flapping around was a joy to sail the remainder of the race. Still had plenty of power and speed but lot less swims and overall I would say faster than I would have been around the track that day had the bottom panel been there.
ReplyDeletei was out too and had a slightly different experience. a lot of caps caused my bottom leg of the gantry to start to buckle again. i foiled past n4rks at the top mark and yelled, "I think my gantry is broken". he used this as an excuse to sail in. me on the otherhand kept racing until my gantry broke propper.
ReplyDeleteThere was an Aussie titles at Mcrae YC Vic in 1991 where lots of people used them. A long time ago and maybe not relavent to todays boats??
ReplyDeleteAnyway I did not have one, but I think the concensus then was that they were good upwind but for those at the top of the fleet you would lose out offwind compared to a full size sail.
Lowriders, no wing rudders, 25 knots and big waves. Melb sux.
See http://madmothist.blogspot.com/2009/07/headin-west.html and http://madmothist.blogspot.com/2009/08/breaking-newsoutterridge-wins-us.html.
ReplyDeleteMy experience is that they work extremely well upwind but are too underpowered off the wind. The 6.5 m^2 was too small for anything under 25 knots, even with my klutziness.
for my 67kg weight a 7.0m^2 would be perfect for 15 mph and up, while I am still a rookie.
ReplyDelete