Pony Express wrote:
The thing I don't understand is why our
highschoolers don't like the JY's. They want
420's or FJ's because they're 'faster'. Truth is
that the JY is faster than either of them.



Walt wrote:
The 420 and the FJ are standard collegiate racing boats. The JY is
not. I think that's part of the prejudice, even though as you correctly
state the JY is signifignantly faster than the 420 or the 14-foot sleep
aid known as the Flying Junior.

C'mon, I used to race FJs... the boat was designed as the "Flying
*Dutchman* Junior" and decided to drop the D-word. Back in it's day it
was a relatively fast boat. And to my eye, it's a better looking boat
than the 420 (which looks as though it should have ball claw feet on
each corner).



So, why isn't the JY a college racing boat? Part of it's tradition,
surely, but there's another piece of the puzzle that I just found out a
couple of weeks ago. A lot of college racing is team racing where boat
handling and tactics is more important than boat speed. The problem
with the JY is that it's hard to stop it cold in it's tracks. Now, you
might not think "stopping the boat" is all that important in racing, but
it is at the collegiate level.

I like it. We need a new ad campaign: "Sail the Club 420 and FJ...
they're easy to stop!"

It's a trivial point. If both teams were sailing JYs, then it would
still be equal. Another issue, real but relatively trivial, is that the
JY is not as sensitive to dirty air as either 420 or FJ.

It's also true that college racing emphasizes tactics, but even in a
fast boat, the issue is more boat handling & avoiding tactical errors
than putting on brilliant chessmaster moves. In a faster boat on a
shorter course, the only tactics that are diminished is the importance
of wind shifts. Everything else is still in play, with the added bonus
that teams falling behand can put on a burst of speed and get back in
the hunt... there is never a parade, never a safe lead.

OTOH in slower boats that stop easily, are tricky to get to point high,
don't accelerate well, and are sensitive to dirty air, 90% of the race
is decided at the start. Well OK, 70% decided at the start and 20%
decided in practice drills the month beforehand.

The real issue is that the Johnstones failed utterly at marketing the JY
to collegiate teams. And that's a shame IMHO. The JY has much better
longevity and is far more cost effective. Furthermore the economies of
scale that would kick in if they made a couple thousand of them a year,
instead of a couple hundred, would drop the price significantly.

Fresh Breezes- Doug King