edward mason

for ballast, I like rocks better than water and lead better than rocks. I like using full sail with proper weight so no loss of performance. Thanks for the clarification on weight of Imperial gallons.My bad---I should have looked at your location.

why would you feel more comfortable with 2 five gal cans of water? Weight is weight whether its cans of water, bags of gravel or lead.The only difference is the amount of space it takes up due to the different densities of the materials. Incidentally, if I needed to add 100 lbs to bring a boat up to recommended weight, 10 gallons of water would take up a lot more space and still not weigh 100 lbs( unless the cans themselves were very heavy). Fresh water weighs 8.34 lbs/gal so 10 gals=83.4 lbs. Salt water is only slightly heavier @8.6 lbs/gal so still only 86 lbs.The best material for ballast which was found out years ago is lead. If I had a good source I would have used it instead of gravel--100 lbs of it would have taken a fraction of the amount of space of virtually any other material.This is why it is used in sailboat keels.

well,you're much less likely to capsize with the proper amount of weight in the boat. Its no more difficult to right than a heavier dinghy.Of course, if you turn turtle they will fall out anyway.It may SOUND wrong but having barely prevented a capsize before proper ballast and having never even come close afterwards--well you should see why I'm advocating this.

most double-handed dinghies have a recommended minimum crew weight. I found,when sailing my Tasar single-handed , a couple of fifty pound bags of gravel(one on each side of the daggerboard trunk) brought the boat up to minimum crew weight and worked wonders making it far more stable and less "squirlley" and more easily controlled.They can always be removed when you have crew or on extra light air days. just my two cents worth.

thanks to all who respond

anyone here have any knowledge of sailing on Milford lake near junction city Kansas? am planing a trip and would like to get some sailing in while I'm there.

Even if its not exactly the same material it cant "not work". Hell you can even use thin strips of wood to make battens.The only real issue that might arise is if your're racing in a class sanctioned event--depends on how strict the measurer is---whether he/she demands "official" Tasar equipment.

Its very difficult to allow for every possibility.I usually take my best guess based on distance and expected speed and then add 20%. No harm to friends or relatives If you happen to arrive at your destination early.However, if you're overdue by very much friends and family begin to panic.Better to over estimate the time for the voyage than to worry loved ones needlessly.

they told me a 7 yr old could never make it across the atlantic in an opti--- too slow they said. Well they just severely underestimated my patience!

Bent Sailor wrote Imho--its not the same thing--- That's what I was getting at when I stated You don't have to create anything special to serve a black person----refusing to serve a black person a dish that's already on the menu is reprehensible---refusing to create an entirely new "soul food" menu is an exercise of personal freedom.

I actually believe it would have been more "christian" if the baker had created the cake for the gay couple---I just dont believe he should be penalized if he does not. You cant legislate morality---anyones morality (thank god). Penalizing the baker for not baking the cake would be just as bad as forcing everyone to adhere to the bakers (or anyone else's) religion. Everyone has a right to adhere to their own code of conduct. -- unless you want to live in a theocracy !

Refusing to sell someone something off the shelf is a lot more discriminatory than refusing to create something special. Suppose you are a song writer that happens to despise the big orange asshole who is the current POTUS and you are approached by the Trump organization to write a song "in praise of the greatest president in history, Donald J Trump". Do you actually believe you should be forced to write the song? Now if the song had already been written and you were just working in the record store and refused to sell the record to some misguided, confused trump supporter THEN you might justly be called a small-minded bigoted P.O.S. No creative person should be forced to create something that is against their principals--- not even a "christian" baker.

Sorry I used the Nazi example---I was trying to Illustrate that the principle of not forcing artists to create something that is inately against their principals is universal and not dependent on the quality of either the artist or the art. By the way,even though the majority of Nazis would classify themselves as Christians, There is NO evidence that the self- described Christian baker is a Nazi--just homophobic.

the debate on the cake issue should rise above liberal/conservative into the realm of common sense.I'll let others argue which side ignores it more often, (though I am mostly liberal ,myself). Custom cake building, (like custom boat building) is a creative act. Suppose a client comes into a boat builders office and asked him to build a boat that is IN THE BOAT BUILDERS OPINION so severely over-canvassed and under ballasted as to be unsafe or maybe just so butt-ugly that the builder doesn't want his name associated with it. Does the client have the right to stamp his foot and yell and scream "you made a boat for my neighbor now you MUST make this PARTICULAR boat for me"----no he does not--or at least the boat builder should not be FORCED to build it. After all, the client came to the boat builder, not the other way around. Just as a Nazi propaganda artist should not be forced to paint a glowing Star of David or a Jewish artist be forced to build a giant Iron swastika--(or put ham in a sandwich).