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Well....those brave souls who did the Starcoss Steamer (I did see you both) Crusader & a Baggy if I remember...well done!!!  The B14 was a complete death trap...and yes...we DID capsise HUGELY!!!  :X on a gybe which did'nt....gybe that is!!......I tried to fling the boom...as you do...in a 12...but the B loads up sooooooooooo much when she stops I did'nt have a ghost of a chance......anyway we literally blew over........at least we did'nt "go down the mine".  We did'nt finish the race, we were both too knackered to be honest.  (mental note...need to join a gym)......I guess you two 12's did?  And if we'd been in our 12 we would have finished too.  As a finishing note one of the B14's managed to clock up 27 knots!!!....now that's what I CALL fast!  

Janey

Are there any 12 sailors going to the Northampton open meeting on 28th of January??  I will be going  as I was most impressed with the venue when we held our 70th there.  However I won't be in the 12..... I'll be taking the B14.  But it'll be nice to see any other fellow 12 sailors there.

Janey........

The 12 is drying out so we can re-do the lovely white gunnells

Just seen on the B14 page.  One of the members has recorded 26.2 knots in his B on Sunday......NOW I know why I bought one  ....but seriously they used a Garmin thingy to measure the speed...I know it won't measure now fas a 12 planes but has anyone ever measured the top speed of a 12 using this kind of instrument.

Janey

P.S...... and YES I know they're illegal for racing

Hi jimbo I've decided to create a new thread for my reply to your last Mail, as the thread we were posting on was really about weight....a subject which I am not prepared to make any further comment on.  
Anyway you suggested if I was bored I should try helmig....tried it...loved it.  You also commented on what was wrong with"tickling" the boat along.  Seriously Jim if, you spent as many years as I have scruched up the front of a Crusader, in 5 iches of freezing water and no wind, constantly moving your weight up and down, in and out, and forwards an backwards to "tickle" the boat along a bit faster, not to mention sheeting the jib in or out ONE click just to get the tall tales exactly right, tweaking various bits of string...you'd know ALL about tickling the boat along.  It IS an art....an art that I LOVE and I am in NO WAY temped to part with my 12, just because of the immense satisfaction of getting that little bit extra speed and cruising past people who ar just wallowing.  Also the sheer speed of the 12 when she does sit up and go is amazing.  All the spray and twitchiness just adds to excitement of it all!!  Going fast in ANYTHING aint boring!!  Which is where the B14 comes in.  Just now and again I want to go out, and go ballistic, and that's why I bought it.  Incedentally I took it out on Saturday on our "pond" and, given the small stretch we have to sail on had a pretty good blast.  It DID feel faster than the 12 but without all the spray, until that is..Mike got "tea bagged" on the tramps....several times.  It all boils down to "Horses for Courses"  For sheer scary speed it's the B14 every time, and for refined skill it HAS to be the 12.  I'd call it a thinking man's (or woman's) boat.

Janey

I'm a 12 crew who will go out in any kind of a blow!!! in any weather....brave as a lion am I when my helm is steering.  However I've decided to helm a bit to try and improve my wind awareness. So.....at our club they're dong novice helm races and I took out a GP14 (shed) 2 weeks ago because I'm terrified of the thought of steering the National......and won both races.......as I said....the SHAME!!