Well if your winning tactics depend a skill base on the behaviour of a
dinghy they would not be much use in a big boat... The fact is that you
sail a big boat differently than a dinghy. I'd say there are far more
variables involved in racing big boats that are simply not there in
dinghies -not least more complicated crew communications, current/tide
etc and the fact that on a keel boat you don't trim in the same way
(note how Doug thinks no heel is the fastest trim).

I'd suggest the only reason this dinghy myth continues is the old "I've
spent my time cold and wet ('cos I'm poor) and so should you" ethos. I
maintain that if you taught someone to race a keeler for 5-10 years
properly and then matched them in a race with a pure dinghy sailor on a
keelboat the big boat trained will win every time. My view is supported
by the history of the squadron youth MRX training team and why they whip
everyone in the youth worlds. There arec also many round the world
sailors with relatively little dinghy racing experience. Of course in a
dinghy you can learn basics of sail trim but that is also true in big
boats...

Cheers


OzOne wrote:

On Tue, 20 Apr 2004 10:56:52 +1200, Navigator
scribbled thusly:


A frequently stated but nevertheless illogical point.

Cheers

DSK wrote:



Agreed. Even the high performance keel boats cannot possibly duplicate
the responsiveness of small fast racing dinghy. That's probably why all
the world's best racing skippers earned their stripes in one or another
of the fast centerboard classes before moving into the high-dollar
sailing world.




Hmmm, Why illogical?
Unless you imply that if a sailor started sailing in yachts by the
time he was the same age as that at which most sailors move to "the
high-dollar sailing world" from dinghys then he would be as good as
the dinghy sailor..

That may be possible however the skills and sensitivity developed in a
dinghy would be less easily learned in a yacht. IMHO


Oz1...of the 3 twins.

I welcome you to crackerbox palace,We've been expecting you.