Class Association

The RS Elite Grand Slam Series has been introduced for the first time in 2008. The series comprises three events - the Bailey Bowl in Dublin, Cowes Week and the Nationals which take place during Burnham Week. These are all great open regattas in their own right - each with it's own special character. Racing in the Elite onedesign fleet at each of them has to be one of the best ways to take part. First up is the Bailey Bowl in mid May - see the Events page for all the dates.

Last tuesday we sailed for the last time with mainsail no. 4 and jib no. 4 with tweaked battens: Mike Lennon, and Richard Lovering from Hydes, Michael Knowles and Mike Tong from the Association and myself.

We had the required 8-12 knots and the tide allowed for long stretches on the same tack: After 4 long tuning runs and swapping sailors it was the most equal we had ever seen the boats:

Asking Mike Tong which sails he would use if the nationals were tomorrow, he shrugged shoulders and said the Hydes because they made the boat look better and would last longer! To me that summed up the ideal outcome of the whole process, and we all felt confident to sign off the main and jib to go along with the kite signed
of the week before.

For me the lesson of the last day was a reminder of the effect of different styles of sailing: On the last session Richard used a tighter outhaul and hard kicker in 8-10 knots - neither boat had done that upto then, suddenly he could really point, put the tide under the bow and dissapeared to windward. Not sure many of us would remember to "change gear" like that when racing?

Settings...both boats were set up the same - the rake was 9450mm, hoisting a tape to the top on the main halliard and measuring to the top corner of thetransom /sterndeck. Rig tensions were....... main shrouds 630kg, and lowers 450kg. Measured on a Harken digital gauge (matched quite well to Loos).Prebend - about 80mm - pulled the main halliard tight to the sail feeder and guestimated biggest distance to the back of the track.
Sails are now in production and the first 6 suits will be here on April 4th.

Following the meeting at the Boat Show and the decision on sailmaking, the sail development process has been underway, ensuring equivalent performance from the new radial cut and new cloth. 2 boats have been used, based at Sparkes Marina - No.8, a well proven boat, and No. 37.

The first thing we did was to match 37's settings to those of no.8. Rake, prebend and rig tension. We then equipped no.8 with a new suit of the existing sails, and commenced the task of making 37 as quick with the new radial cut Hydes. Its all about long upwind runs, neck and neck, swap helms and repeat. Then compare notes.

Video and photos help Hydes make the intervening tweaks and development sails. The team so far has consisted of Mike Lennon and Richard Lovering from Hydes, myself with Martin or Charlie from RS, Anthony Penfold and Peter Wareham from the Association.

There is lots more sailing needed in the next 2/3 weeks, so volunteers are welcome! So far really quite even - we need to slow the Hydes down in the light and speed them up in the breeze!! The new cloth feels more substantial to the hand and we are very pleased with the detailing. Process ongoing. We are very keen that as many members as possible get to see the new sails to "sign them off". I am imagining we have 2 more weeks so planning a day to see the sails and sail with them if you would like is a good idea. Week commencing the 3rd of March, through to Saturday 8th is possible.

If you would like to do this, please mail myself or Peter Wareham. On Monday 9th, Hydes need to make sails to ensure delivery of the first dozen suits by the end of March at the latest. At this time we are confident and on schedule.

Many thanks to Toby Strauss, James Hill, Nigel Cartright and Mike Knowles for the loan of their fine vessels.

The annual Class Association meeting at the London Excel boat show took place on Thursday 17th January - 20 plus association members attended from HISC, RBYC, Belfast and Falmouth. This meeting had been announced as being an EGM in order for the class to vote on two proposals.

A summary of the main discussion points follows...........

• Yearbook not quite ready, but will be distributed v soon
• Proposal to carry weight if not carrying an outboard was withdrawn because of lack of support
• Proposal to change sail cloth, cut and sailmaker as described was carried. Work will take place in the next six weeks and progress will be reported in this column
• Nationals 2008 will be at Burnham and 2009 will be in Belfast. Details of the Burnham event are in the yearbook. This decision was based on only going to venues with 10+ home boats which ruled out Falmouth and others at present.  A 'Grand Slam' tropy (supported by RS) was announced - this will be awarded annually for the best results from 2 out of three events. The three events will be Cowes week, the nationals and one other. For 2008 the third event will be the Bailey Bowl in Dublin in May.
• Email inputs to AGM/EGM voting is carefully monitored and although there is always fall out when sending out Emails to 100 ish people  the actual boats and class association members not included in the voting for this meeting was 1 - that owner attended the meeting.

The Class Association and LDC/RS would like to thank Batt Sails for their support of the class in it's early years.