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Det här tycker i alla fall jag var intressant
Känns som om jag kan ha köpt mina sista camber-segel på ett tag:
An interesting thing happened last week at the US National windsurfing
championships that ought feed some heated discussion here (and
elsewhere) for a while to come.In the days leading up to the event when I was testing sails and
practicing with my course racing buddies I was increasingly struck by
the fact that my large Retro sails were just as fast as any cambered
race sail I came up against. Opening my mouth to discuss the subject
lead immediately to taunts, “well, if they’re so fast, why don’t you
race Retro’s in the Nationals”? And so I did.For those who haven’t yet seen a report or any results from the
nationals, the short story is this. We race nine races over two days
of a five day event. Winds ranged from 10 knots to gust over 30.
Phil McGain dominated the event winning six of the nine races,
followed by (in order of fleet finishing position) Micah Buzainis,
Jimmy Diaz, Matt Pritchard, Devon Boulon, Alex Aguera, Dale Cook, Rob
Hartman, Mike Zajicek, and Bill Weir rounding out the top ten. I
finished in 11th place racing on camberless Retro sails.Beyond the fact that I had the only non-cambered sails in the regatta,
what was most surprising was where the Retro’s were advantaged and
disadvantaged. I used three sizes during the event-all 2002 Retro
prototypes in sizes 10.5, 9.5 & 9.0-which were comparable in area, if
not slightly smaller, than what the other top racers were using.
Upwind, especially in the puffs, was where I was particularly
competitive. I had upwind angle as good or better than the fleet, and
only Phil, Micah and Devon could sail faster on the same upwind line.
Five times I rounded the windward mark in 5th place or better.Sailing downwind, deep downwind, seemed to be the comparative
shortcoming of the Retro. Bearing deep off the wind caused a loss of
sail pressure, which affected the ability of the Retro to keep
powering deep downwind. A 3rd place at the windward mark turned into
8th at the leeward mark, a 6th into a 12th, as I got picked off
downwind. Thankfully a short windward finish closed each race so some
opportunities of redemption were available.In discussing these results during and after the event (in fact,
arguing and wagering that, yes, it was in fact a camberless sail) it
became clear that what I was doing was dramatically polarizing
opinions and comments. Some cheered, claiming that progress in
camberless sail design had forged another leap forward into the
sanctity of competitive course racing. Others scoffed, calling it a
marketing stunt and claiming I might have won the regatta had I raced
on my NX cambered sails.My own sentiments fall somewhere in between. Clearly, “putting my
money where my mouth was” was a tantalizing and satisfying challenge.
I wasn’t a likely candidate for victory or even a podium finish
regardless of whether I had raced with cambered sails (I also finished
11th overall, racing with cambers, at the US Open). However the
implications to the average windsurfer and recreational racer cannot
be ignored. Cheaper, simpler and just as effective makes for a
compelling debate.Bruce Peterson
Sailworks R+D(hämtat från rec.windsurfing, jag brukar gå in via groups.google.com)
Vad säger ni? Finns det någon anledning för oss “icke räjsers” eller till och med “budget räjsers” att köra med cambers längre?
Surfa På!
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