The Good Old Days
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Last fall I actually got a chance to ride on one of those boats, US-56 I think it was, in Cozumel. They take people out on excursions and you get to crank the winches, and if you ask nice they'll let you drive (I did). The amount of power present in a 12-meter is just awesome. A real racing machine.
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I have ridden on both the Stars and Stripes and Canada II in St Maarten while on cruise stops. I costs about $105 for a couple of hours but to me the excitement and experience was worth twice that much, and to cap it off the boat I was on won the race both times. There is a definite kick in the pants when one of those boats heel over on a tack while the waves are breaking over the bow. It sure got me interested in sail power!
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I have a completely different view of these new foiling cats.
I was right there watching Art Piver developing his trimarans on SF Bay, and Rudy Choy doing the same with cats in Hawaii, all the while sailing what are now known as the 'old classics' around the bay, down the coast and to Hawaii.
Then there was this little 27 footer (a Thunderbird) with hard chines (and a nearly flat bottom), a reverse transom and a spade rudder that was more fun than a barrel of monkeys to race around the bay. We left all the 'old classics' in our wake. She had no shear, was built of plywood and the old salts made comments similar to the OP of this thread.
Fast forward to the last America's Cup races on my beloved Bay, and the boats are sailing X times faster than the true wind speed, reaching speeds around 50mph, at times. How exciting it must be to be a part of such technological innovations. How badly I wanted to be young again, and be offered a slot on an America's Cup racer, as I was half a century before.
Most of us will never see this tech filter down to us on our cruising boats, though small boats like the Moth are available for those bitten by the foiling bug.
IMO, in their own way, these huge foiling cats are every bit as beautiful as old Nat's classics. I see a grace and beauty in these boats. And the pure exhilaration of that kind of sailing has to be a bit of an addiction.
To say this is not racing or sailing is a pretty narrow view of our sport, to me. But they said that to Art Piver, Rudy Choy and I even said it about the first few plastic boats I got to sail, way back when. Hell, they didn't even smell like boats! Yet, here I am, 50 years later, sailing the West Indies on one of those "plastic fantastic' boats, as we used to call them, and loving every single minute I am NOT spending maintaining my cruising home as I would be doing, if I was sailing an 'old classic'.
I was right there watching Art Piver developing his trimarans on SF Bay, and Rudy Choy doing the same with cats in Hawaii, all the while sailing what are now known as the 'old classics' around the bay, down the coast and to Hawaii.
Then there was this little 27 footer (a Thunderbird) with hard chines (and a nearly flat bottom), a reverse transom and a spade rudder that was more fun than a barrel of monkeys to race around the bay. We left all the 'old classics' in our wake. She had no shear, was built of plywood and the old salts made comments similar to the OP of this thread.
Fast forward to the last America's Cup races on my beloved Bay, and the boats are sailing X times faster than the true wind speed, reaching speeds around 50mph, at times. How exciting it must be to be a part of such technological innovations. How badly I wanted to be young again, and be offered a slot on an America's Cup racer, as I was half a century before.
Most of us will never see this tech filter down to us on our cruising boats, though small boats like the Moth are available for those bitten by the foiling bug.
IMO, in their own way, these huge foiling cats are every bit as beautiful as old Nat's classics. I see a grace and beauty in these boats. And the pure exhilaration of that kind of sailing has to be a bit of an addiction.
To say this is not racing or sailing is a pretty narrow view of our sport, to me. But they said that to Art Piver, Rudy Choy and I even said it about the first few plastic boats I got to sail, way back when. Hell, they didn't even smell like boats! Yet, here I am, 50 years later, sailing the West Indies on one of those "plastic fantastic' boats, as we used to call them, and loving every single minute I am NOT spending maintaining my cruising home as I would be doing, if I was sailing an 'old classic'.
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Yes, heaven forbid that high-end sailboat racing push the technological envelope. Why can't it stay slow and boring like it was in the "good old days"?
If you want to see a bunch of lead mines creep around the race course, you can always go watch your local beer cans.
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I think there is a gap between technological advances and tradition. Do the new boats go faster than the old? Heck yes! Is that bad? No. But, it takes more of the operator skill out of the equation although I am sure it takes a completely different skill set to operate the new cats than the old monohulls. I recall back in the 1970's when I was involved with competitive go-cart racing; we were mostly racing McCullough reed valve engines using whatever clutch and frame combination we could afford or build when Yamaha introduced a complete ready to race frame/clutch/rotary valve engine unit which would blow the Mac's off the track without a lot of mechanical or driving skills. Suddenly a bunch of wealthy kids who could not compete while running Mac's were blowing the rest of us away with the Yamaha's. Was the technological change good for the sport? Over time, yes I think so. Was it good for those of us invested in the old technology and unable to afford the new? No. Did I like it? No. Did that stop the advancement of new technology? No.
I think that it really doesn't matter what we like and as for myself I don't follow the new America's Cup but I sure enjoy the old technology for fun.
I think that it really doesn't matter what we like and as for myself I don't follow the new America's Cup but I sure enjoy the old technology for fun.
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If you want to watch competitive monohull racing check out Sail.TV.
You can watch online, through Roku or through a smart TV if it has a browser.
http://www.sail.tv/
You can watch online, through Roku or through a smart TV if it has a browser.
http://www.sail.tv/
- Reaction score
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Next haulout I am having hydrofoils fitted to my Beneteau 393.
The boatyard said they should be pretty cheap if I can do some dumpster diving for off-cut fibreglass.
The boatyard said they should be pretty cheap if I can do some dumpster diving for off-cut fibreglass.
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^you'd really be happier with a new Maytag dishwasher.
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I like both. What interests me is the "green" tech that goes into these crazy cats and tris. The fact that sailboats can go that fast amazes me. I'll never own one but someday folks will be making it down from NY to Miami in twice (or less) the time it takes to drive straight through. That's not a bad thing. 50 yrs from now cruisers will be driving the boats that are made 25 yrs from now and I have a feeling they will be amazing.
Then again, I drive an electric car and absolutely love it. Some people laugh at me.
Then again, I drive an electric car and absolutely love it. Some people laugh at me.
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