Date: 12/19/2006
Name: Joe Martin
email: joe.martin@anmedhealth.org
subject:
Blame Mike for it all


Mike, we blame you for everything anyway. But I'll take my turn stirring the pot.

In one of the earlier posts someone commented that the metal gasket was no better than a boat with a cloth gasket in good working order. The advantage to the metal is that it is always in good working order. Who wants to change cloth gaskets all the time? Changing a cloth gasket without benefit of a hoist is a difficult task. If you use a hoist then it is blown out as soon as you raise the centerboard. That time is better spent practicing or just drinking a beer with your buddies, life is short. I remember the first E Nats I attended, pre metal gaskets. I asked the Admiral what he thought of my gasket and he said oh its fine. I asked if he would change it if it were his, he said absolutely and then helped me change mine. That is not One Design with my floppy gasket and his new one.

However, an unintended consequence of the metal gasket is that it got rid of the better part of the old cloth gasket, the part in front of the centerboard. Lots of folks have tried many different ideas for closing the front hole. The Blair front is just another way and isn't significantly different than overlapping pieces of heavy Mylar (I think) that I have seen. For that matter, the leather Ben mentioned was probably a good idea. I believe (rusty memory) the rule is you have to raise/lower the centerboard from the winch without doing anything else. For less than two hundred and a day in the hoist you can eliminate bottom maintenance.

Assuming a closure of some type in good working order there are plenty of other factors that have a bigger impact on performance at regattas and don't cost money. Going the right way is pretty high on the list. Others are cleaning out the boat of stuff, having a clean smooth hull, having the boat rigged in an efficient layout. Practicing to sail with two people instead of three takes 130 to 200 pounds off the boat. That last one also reduces weight of required beer. Staying calm and focused on the race during the race is way up there also.

It is true we are not going to be U20s, for one thing an SJ is not 25k. But by making reasonable improvements to the boat we can do things to continue being a very low cost option for someone interested in good racing, OD and PHRF.

Back to earlier posts, eliminating the spinnaker is a step backward in my mind. There are a lot of boats competing for attention. And while white sails may be more tactical, speed, thrills and challenges are not overrated. The SJ can be sailed with spinnaker and only two people. Like Steve and Micah's story, switch places in the boat. My lovely spouse Leslie is a far better driver than me. We have the Bottom Line rigged so that my eight-year-old daughter can trim the jib/Genoa mostly in then I finish it off, without winches. She drives downhill and I fly the chute in club races. Check out your clubs junior program for crew. Our club kids are sailing 420s with spinnakers and traps....they can do foredeck on an SJ. Again, reduces the weight of required beer.

Well my shift stirring is over. Time to have one of those beers saved by sailing with two.

Bottom Line 1559


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