Two visions, time's arrow, and half a
loaf
"I feel strongly that the function of a class association .. and
the web pages that go with it .. should be the place
where one can go for advice .." Very fair comment.
Recently on the TasarSailors list (
TasarSailors@yahoogroups.com
) there have been an increasing number of advocates for
change. Some have sought to add to or extend or complex the
rig controls. Some have regretted that I terminated the
spinnaker experiment so quickly. The following comments fall
into the "advice" category.
Vision One
In 1960 a group of us dreamed of a boat which would not only be
more suitable for men and women than any existing boat but one
which would be much better than anything else then
available. The "better" bit is sometimes
overlooked. When the NS14, Nova and Tasar development had run
its course, the Tasar was a dad and mum no-trapeze
no-spinnaker toe-strapper which could match and often beat the gun
trapeze and spinnaker raceboats of its era. My point is that
it is sometimes proper to have faith in vision.
Along the way one of the key developments was to make the rig more
automatic. Year by year the clutter of string in the cockpits
of the winning boats vanished until finally the winning boats had
only the minimum controls and the shortest strings.
Philosophically, the designer was beginning to do all of his
job and design the rig as well as the hull. When the rig
proportions and flexibility and the sail shapes are properly
matched to the hull and crew weight dynamics, only basic
controls are needed. The rig flexibility does the rest
automatically.
Look at any top Eighteen, a 49er, a 29er. Their
cockpits are incredibly clean. Compare them, if you can
remember, with the cluttered cockpits of the gun 5o5's or
FD's of fifteen years ago and you will realise what has
happened. One of the truly significant comments about
handling my new 59er is that it is easier to sail in stronger winds
than in lighter. I have gone through four topmasts,
three different rig geometries and three different sail shapes to
get what I want, but I regard this as one of the designer's
most important responsibilities.
My message to those who want to put more string into the Tasar's
cockpit is simple. You will sail slower.
Half a loaf
The performance measurements of typical boats, and the logic
and critical ratios which enable apparent wind boats to
perform, are currently being published in a series of ten
articles by me in "Seahorse" in UK and in "Australian Sailing" in
Australia. I thank Keith Melvin, a Tasar sailor and
contributor to these pages, for verifying from the Northern
hemisphere what I sense from my work out here. Three of his
comments (from these pages, from memory and
paraphrased) -
At Minorca sailing two years ago - "We started the afternoon
race in a fleet of PA-1's (popular asymmetric No 1), rounded
the windward mark and set off downwind keeping our wind clear like
you should. Funny thing; one crew had trouble
hoisting, sailed straight downwind under main and jib,
and beat us all to the leeward
mark."
At Minorca sailing again - "Downwind the 29er just
went ballistic."
From Edinburg a year ago - "First day of the season
proper. Fleet was a Rockport skiff, two RS800's,
nine PA-1's, two PA-2's, and the conventionals.
Wind was 6 to 14kts. Course upwind-downwind, wind agin
tide. The skiff and the RS800's enjoyed apparent wind
sailing. The rest of us did not. I was crewing in a
PA-1. Downwind we tried sailing fast, but could
not. So we cranked the bowsprit to windward, pulled the
centreboard right up and crabbed sideways almost directly to the
leeward mark. The other PA-1's quickly followed suit.
The two PA-2's were amazing; they were just reaching back and
forth on an upwind-downwind course"
My experimental Tasar would have been just like the PA-2's in that
wind. If I had sailed it at 70kg total crew weight (somebody
suggested the Manly Graduate - their web page
recommends a 50kg helm and a 20kg forward hand) we might have
done better. David Ovington advises me that to win in a
PA-1 " you have to be between 18 and 19 stone total" say 255lbs or
115kg.
This I regard as half a loaf.
Vision Two
The shape of the 59er is on the Bethwaite Design web page.
We say nothing there about performance. Some straws in the
wind - All the many crews who have sailed it to date seem to
weigh 150 to 180kg. I designed it for 150, but
have increased the flotation of 59er-2 to cope easily with
170. People are eating better nowadays.
Michael Stovin-Bradford 93kg (helm) and I at 73kg started in
59er-1 in a fleet of 49ers, 2 B-14's and 5 29er's in a SE'ly
which alternated between 9 to 13kts and then 5 to 8kts every few
minutes. Waves were the typical harbour slop. At
the windward mark we were ahead of the B-14's which were ahead of
the 29ers. We were uncertain of the rounding, so
waited for the B-14's to round. Downwind in the light stuff
(at that moment) we were able to sail lower and just as fast as the
B-14's and the 29ers and soon left them. This was
exactly the wind speed range in which the experimental Tasar would
have been like the PA-1's.
Nicola and Roger Veitch, about 150kg total, sailed
three windward/leeward twilight races in 59er-2. Wind was 10
to 8kts at the windward mark, 4 to 6 and shifty near the
leeward mark. Water in Rose Bay was flat.
59er-2 has a slightly rounder bottom than 59er-1 and is more
tolerant to heel and fore and aft trim. Nicky found that she
could roll tack it in the shifty stuff like her 470 (Australian
Womens' 470 rep at the Seoul Olympics) The 59er sailed
between the 49ers and the 29ers, except that as their tacking
coordination improved their windward performance improved race by
race and in the third race she arrived at the windward mark with
the lead 49er.
David Ovington 75kg and Julian 90kg sailed 59er-2 in 20kts gusts
25 and matched the B-14 fleet. Immediately prior to his visit
David had sailed his B-14 in a major UK regatta, so knows
exactly what a B-14 can do. Upwind in winds stronger than
about 12kts the narrower no-trapeze 59er is not as fast as the lead
wider-winged B-14's - their assessment was "about
mid-fleet". Downwind it was just as fast.
My vision for the Tasar when I tried it with a spinnaker was for a
dad and mum toe-strapper which would be comfortable,
manageable and fast and attractive to baby boomers who are no
longer featherweights. The Tasar with its spinnaker did not
fire. It has taken
longer than I expected to achieve vision two, but I think we
are nearly there. Like the Tasar, we will defend the
privileges of adult crews of normal stature against light stringy
adolescents with the same sort of crew rule.
I thank the class for the privilege of running a real
experiment, from which I learned so much.
Frank Bethwaite