Messages

Do they do a practise doing penalty turns game for the Wii ??

http://shop.pinbax.com/index.asp?selection=detailed&uid=10672&itemtitle=Speed%20Boxers 

http://www.yachtsandyachting.com/photos/?s=64&PID=27942
Here's one from Salcombe - you may find others by using the link within the Harwich thread.

[week]

I think the boat is pretty much as it is - we need to accept it and find ways to get more of the boats sailing.  Having said that why not pass a rule to fix the weight for say 10 years and then look at the rule book and chuck out any silly restrictive rules that don't make much difference - example Meds' new boat isn't the problem above the waterline (??) that has no impact on hull speed (to the untrained eye it still looks like a 12 ) - but the new design seems to be going well?  No radical changes then - would be a restricted class like the Merlins but I do think we have had more radical design changes in the last few years than the Merlin class has (maybe wrong...)
Other traditional classes are still being succesful - one of our Solo guys at the weekend (has Solo No 2 ) went to the inlands and there were over 100 boats.  Why do we have inlands in November?  Make the inlands in the summer when maybe those with family crews may be more likely to come to a weekend event.  Also the Solos have a training programme - the same guy is a coach and on the Friday did training.  I know some of our training sessions have not been well attended and doing training on a working / school day is difficult for families.  Hykeham was a good event - family friendly and a good example maybe to build on this to promote more attendance for next year.
BW - keeps coming up - maybe just to stuck on Burton week rather than National 12 Championships with the Burton Cup as a premier race.  Could we do a poll where we put in a number of options say 1-5, if everyone has to vote for each option then could we get a clearer view of what the Class will want to attend.
Should we organise more events around 'common' classes like the Fireflies / Ents - cost of travelling is increasing - if Clubs want to see enough return for holding events then multi Class may be the way to go (even some Nationals are run multi class aren't they on the same course??).  Is there even an opportunity to create some sort of group (like TASA) for 2 sail hikers - Firefly, Graduate, Ents, 12s, Albacore (?) are all pretty similar and often Open turnouts are relatively small - but this would boost the social side of things - which is sort of what boosted the RS classes to get mixed RS fleets.
If we all talk doom and gloom then isn't that self fulfilling?   Some changes are needed but its far quicker to change the way we do events than changes to the boat itself.
Complex issues as Antony said but a bit of radical thinking may get more boats out.  Now can I fit in a sail this weekend???
 

Couple of quotes - to save going through the whole thing
Then of course we have the poor old N12 that is struggling against the RS200 which gets huge turn outs.
 
It's a shame that the N12 has been a bit of a stick in the mud at important
points in it's history on both counts, this is leading to there current
difficulties.<!-- Signature -->

The 'dare to be different' is in my mind is to get people to think about having a 12 vs the SMOD type classes RS etc.  I think we do need to be capturing the evolution of the class - including the different designs - the evolution idea from Sam is good.  Show the class covers a range of sailor types incl. parent / child combos, those of an older generation as well as the typical action sort of shots that tend to get used.  Can we show that the 12 offers close tactical racing vs out and out speed?  What about using recent class success at PY open events - Bloody Mary winner (1&2nd), Battle of classes etc - the 12 has a proven track record of successes (handicap bandit - but don't make it too obvious!!).  In the evolution can we point out that many of the 'modern' classes come from designers who created 12s, Phil Morrison, Jo Richards etc  Playing a bit on the 'nostalgia' - how do we entice 'returning' sailors (those now with families) to step into a 12 rather than a SMOD?  If you crewed in one in the past you are old enough to drive one now - IYSWIM.
Not sure you could easily get all those messages across in one poster?
 

Sent 2 Grazz friday to get them posted up.

Sorry to say won't be able to come, unless I find a way to clone myself and crew!  If it had been Sunday would have been OK  - looks like some fair winds too.

No takers - but I must admit I sailed it very badly - put it down to lack of practise as well as it being quite a bit different to the ACs I've sailed.  Did much better this Wednesday out - and beat all the plastic fantastic 3 sailors - mostly Xenons sailed by a couple of bigish blokes - so a 12 would not be of much interest to them...

Had one of those long pin / hook jobbies on the last 2 twelves - they end to fit very tight - and can even be a bit of a pain to pull out.  Never lost one - but now you've got me worried next time and maybe I'll fumble it  - but I fit rudder before going out as a drop down - a fixed rudder with this would be most problematic I would have thought..

The only number on the boat is on the sails N1780, register shows this as a Mark 8, but comment says its sailing Nr Abersoch :-/

Is there a PY adjustment factor recommended for single handed sailing?  Assume that a Club is using the NTOA recommended age PYs - is there any numbers to use for s/h only?  Only ask 'cos the Weds race I did last week I got away with the main h'cap - but first time out was 'intersting' :-/ to sail on own.
Should we allow s/h at Open events then?  If the Gill events allowed s/h would we see any increase in attendance?  Should we promote the s/h with their own prizes at BW / Gill events?  Other 'similar' fleets allow s/h Fireflies / Mirrors as examples do this.
 

N3199 for sale on Boats&Outboards;
http://www.boatsandoutboards.co.uk/view/F181436
Clearly had lots spent on it!!

Here's a thread from Y&Y site relevant to our forum discussion - someone returning to sailing with a child crew - intersting opinions as to what others think of the 12 and give us some pointers on what we need to do.  Quite a bit of support for the 12 - could we make more direct contacts with them in offering advice, try the boat etc. 
http://www.yachtsandyachting.com/forum/forum_posts.asp?TID=4213&PN=1&TPN=1
I have not been able to correctly register on this site for some reason, can read only
 

Thanks again to Hykeham and all those involved in making it a great event - made trip worth while.  Jelly bean olympics was a highlight - having fun events for crews helps them to bond abd have good fun.  Maybe we need a crews union for the youngsters witrh maybe some simple training programmes thrown in too - I know I'd benefit
THG
Borrowed N3415 (3490 sails)