From the feedback - 14/03/01

We'll be publishing the choicest moments from the stuff you send us - but each contribution may or may not be subjected to a rigorous process of editing for language, taste and imparted wisdom. And of course, as they so famously say at the start of anything like this, the opinions expressed in From the Feedback do not necessarily reflect those of the management, staff or investors of madforsport.com. Instead, and much more importantly, they reflect your views.

From Lloyd Wiedenman,
Should they run The Race again?The Race should be run again and again. The boat designs used to build the fleet show the need for this kind of racing. New concepts and designs need places to compete. The Race is one such place. I hope to see much more, including concepts such as Team Philips tried. The only limitations needed are enough testing to prove they can safely race the Southern Ocean.

From Thisiswhereis,
Should they run The Race again? Most definitely, The Race should be run at least every four years. Although to some people it wasn't a great success this year, I believe in the future new boats will be built with fantastic new designs. Races like this will allow designers and engineers to develop boat technology to its limit, which will benefit other new boat designs.

From George Conk,
Is The Race a success? All but one big cat will finish. That's a victory. But why didn't I follow The Race closely? No close competition, no dramatic changes of position, no strategic breakthroughs. I got hooked on the Whitbread (and ocean racing on the web) when Roy Heiner and Brunel Sunergy gambled on heavy air and won - by taking a 125 mile flyer around the Falklands when everyone else copped a left at Cape Horn and sailed the lay line to Brazil. As with the America's Cup - a good television race - lead changes are necessary for viewer interest on the web.

From Paul Young,
Should the 29er permanently replace the 420? Time for some reality pills! I fear that the rush of enthusiasm that precedes any such announcement from this country, will be marked by a similar lack of enthusiasm from every smaller sailing nation. The 420 - whatever it's weaknesses in terms of being an older design than the 29er - is actually the biggest ISAF class by miles and has a huge active membership worldwide with a substantial number of builders in places like India, Brazil, Argentina, Australia, China, Singapore, Russia, as well as America, and at least 12 active builders on the European mainland. It is sailed in 72 nations in sensible numbers, and with over 50 000 registered worldwide, few of which will rot or disappear, it is difficult to see the 29er ever reaching these numbers.

Also remember that the 49er came within a couple of votes of getting canned from its Olympic status yet the 470 went through without question. The current revolution we see in the UK is just not happening anywhere else, and irrespective of how upbeat that we are about it, the harsh reality is that in Germany last week they did not select the 29er as their new youth class but rather the Hobie 16.

The 49er is sailed in only a few countries as a class, and maybe a few more as an Olympic boat, yet the 470 is raced by almost all member nations of ISAF. If you don't race 49er why would you want a trainer? The 29er is an exciting modern boat with a great future as just that. A huge number of young people, or lighter adults should choose to race it as a natural choice rather than the 420. It should look and learn from the Laser II which was the Youth Worlds boat for five years or more and yet failed to dent the 420 as the natural worldwide choice for a youth boat.

From Thisiswhereis,
Should the 29er permanently replace the 420? No, I think the 29er is excellent, I know because I've got one, but it is a different boat to the 420. The 420 is conventional and has a different method of sailing. The 29ers should be kept and they are the best for asymmetric training if you want to go into bigger faster asymmetrics. The 420 is important if you'd prefer to use the 470 or if you want two go into big racing yachts. Sailors don't wont lose the skill of being able two put up a conventional spinnaker. We should learn this it at a young age, both should be kept as asymmetric and conventional youth training boats.

From Avid like the plague,
Wild for the 49ers - how about the 29er and B14s? Wild for the 49ers maybe - but should the 29ers' racing schedule be so dictated by the nature of 49er racing and the fact that the B14s kept on snapping? 29ers are not a hugely physical and challenging boat like 49ers, and as such should be allowed to race for more than two hours in perfect racing conditions. The 29er, compared with the 420, is raced for much less time for no apparent reason. Do the 29er sailors get value for money - £25 for three and a half hours racing? I love my 29er, but could I get some more time enjoying it please?

From Chris Allen,
Got anything to add to the debate? The K-6 - Flying Fifteen debate is developing into a "traditional" vs. "new" classes debate and I would like to add a couple of thoughts. Excitement, as per Andy Tyler, is a difficult thing to measure. After 12 years of sailing Larks and six years of sailing B14s, I wouldn't say that one provides more excitement than the other, albeit one can travel at about three times the speed of the other. Any dinghy is exciting in the right conditions as I'm sure GP14, Enterprise, Mirror and Cadet sailors will agree. I think Andy is more correct in using the word "sexy" - and that is what draws people and makes sailors vote with their cheque-books and buy RS's etc.

Ultimately though, a 49er is not much use at any of the numerous popular lakes (as opposed to larger reservoirs) at which Ian Barker and Simon Hiscocks learnt the windshift and bend skills that helped them in Sydney. The high performance skiff, in which boat speed is more critical than tactical ability due to greater speed differences, requires a new skill-set compared to the slower traditional dinghy. We cannot turn back the clock, I'm sure that Charles Apthorp would not want us using cotton sails and wooden masts, and we cannot "un-invent" developments in the sport. We have all been defensive when our particular class appears to have been targeted by RS/Laser etc, and this is not perhaps helped when it appears to originate from the builder. But, as the correspondence on this subject confirms, competition can be a good thing and with a strong class committee and passionate supporters the Flying Fifteen will, no doubt, survive another 50 years alongside the K6.

For the record, RS did not drop the B14, the Class Association in agreement with RS felt that the future of the Class was better served with Ovington Boats who have a peerless reputation for building race-boats. The B14 fits very neatly between the other Bethwaite-designed 29er and 49er. RS/LDC continue to sell spares for B14s and there is no animosity between B14 Class and RS who design and sell excellent products as witnessed by the success of RS200/RS400 and RS600. No doubt the other RS boats will have equal success in the future. Unfortunately changes in lifestyle put a huge demand on time and an attractive boat, competitive "out of the box" is the only option for many sailors.