What's your favorite bit of sailing tech?

[voodoochile]

more upper right

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John Gruden   ?   John Gruden...?

 

[TwoLegged]

Ball bearing cam cleats.   The boats I sailed as a kid had horned cleats for all purposes, and I still think that a smooth cam cleat is a thing of magic.

 

[Steam Flyer]

Fiberglass

My grandfather considered fiberglass (he never owned a fiberglass boat, although he could have) a goddam Communist plot to ruin the sport of sailing.

I propose the follow test to see who prioritizes what advances in technology.

Let's give everyone a standardized boat similar to what I started with... wood planks, cotton sails, 3-strand lines, horn cleats.

Do you want- better sails, yeah but first let's not fucking sink. And if we can have a somewhat stiffer hull, that'd be real nice too.

Also a way to hold the lines better. No use in having better sails if the increased efficiency just goes into tightening wraps on bronze hardware.

Better lines to be held better, too. No use in having better sails if all they do is stretch your rope.

Maybe extruded aluminum masts would be considered in this Great Leap Forward level of technology.

Now let's talk better sails. Sails that don't pucker up around the tabling, when wet. Sails that don't rot in the bag. Sails that you don't need to carefully (CAREfully!!) iron before a light-air race.......

Are you all beginning to see why I am less excited about doo-dads with little glowing screens, as an indispensable sailing technology.

FB- Doug

 

[TwoLegged]

Let's give everyone a standardized boat similar to what I started with... wood planks, cotton sails, 3-strand lines, horn cleats.

The boat I started on was a Shannon one-design, a 1920 design. it had all 4 features: wood planks, cotton sails, 3-strand lines, horn cleats.

We upgraded ours to braided ropes, but never made the leap to those new-fangled "terylene" sails which are now universal, or to non-horned cleats.

I loved the cotton sails.  They were so gorgeous to handle, much more poetic than the crinkly new stuff.  A jam cleat for the mainsheet would have been nice, but the real biggie was the braided ropes, which were much nicer to handle ... so I reckon my dad had his priorities right.   I think they should bring back the cotton sails.

 

[hobot]

 

[130lights]

If she's a redhead she sounds perfect.

All (natural) redheads go bat-shit crazy occasionally.

 

[Ishmael]

59 minutes ago, TwoLegged said:

The boat I started on was a Shannon one-design, a 1920 design. it had all 4 features: wood planks, cotton sails, 3-strand lines, horn cleats.

We upgraded ours to braided ropes, but never made the leap to those new-fangled "terylene" sails which are now universal, or to non-horned cleats.

I loved the cotton sails.  They were so gorgeous to handle, much more poetic than the crinkly new stuff.  A jam cleat for the mainsheet would have been nice, but the real biggie was the braided ropes, which were much nicer to handle ... so I reckon my dad had his priorities right.   I think they should bring back the cotton sails.

Scoots right along, and looks good doing it.

 

[TwoLegged]

If she's a redhead she sounds perfect.

All (natural) redheads go are bat-shit crazy occasionally.

FIFY.

 

[Ishmael]

FIFY.

That's quite the gene, I'm surprised they haven't bred that out of the species yet.

 

[130lights]

@TwoLegged Hey now, I am a redhead, but only occasionally crazy. 

 

[TwoLegged]

Scoots right along, and looks good doing it.

The Shannon One is a gorgeous boat, and v well-suited to the Shannon.

Gybing them in a blow is interesting.  The Lough Derg yacht club used to like setting courses with a gybe mark near the clubhouse, so that the non-sailors could enjoy the carnage.

 

[130lights]

That's quite the gene, I'm surprised they haven't bred that out of the species yet.

It dissipates with age.

 

[Ishmael]

It dissipates with age.

I suspect you're biased. It doesn't dissipate, it hides.

 

[130lights]

I suspect you're biased. It doesn't dissipate, it hides.

Not biased at all. It dissipates with age and maturity. And takes the right person to bring it out again.

 

[10thTonner]

It dissipates with age.

Tell that to my MIL!  :lol:  

 

[The Q]

The Shannon One is a gorgeous boat, and v well-suited to the Shannon.

Gybing them in a blow is interesting.  The Lough Derg yacht club used to like setting courses with a gybe mark near the clubhouse, so that the non-sailors could enjoy the carnage.

Funnily enough our normal gybing point is outside the club house, though our older design Boats have some jib to spread the sail area..

I like that Shannon One design, it would probably do well on our waters..

 

[Steam Flyer]

16 hours ago, TwoLegged said:

The boat I started on was a Shannon one-design, a 1920 design. it had all 4 features: wood planks, cotton sails, 3-strand lines, horn cleats.

We upgraded ours to braided ropes, but never made the leap to those new-fangled "terylene" sails which are now universal, or to non-horned cleats.

I loved the cotton sails.  They were so gorgeous to handle, much more poetic than the crinkly new stuff.  A jam cleat for the mainsheet would have been nice, but the real biggie was the braided ropes, which were much nicer to handle ... so I reckon my dad had his priorities right.   I think they should bring back the cotton sails.

That's a beautiful boat. I'd sail one of those, and only complain a little bit.



FB- Doug

 

[TwoLegged]

That's a beautiful boat. I'd sail one of those, and only complain a little bit.

Most of the time upwind, the crew's arses are the gunwale, so it's far from comfortable.  The rounded-deck-level buoyancy tank of a 420/470/505 is much much nicer to sit on.  The beauty of the handmade SOD is a good choice only if you like suffering for beauty  

 

[LB 15]

Harrison's Clock. And those flame thrower lighters so you can still light a lung buster in 30 knots.

 

[Mudsailor]

The original cheap Casio digital watch with a countdown timer on it……..