Friday, October 16, 2009

Less is more (more or less)

I haven't forgotten Tillerman's Less is more blog writing challenge, just been a bit stumped as to what to add to this particular bun fight.

To be honest it sounded like the first item in a list of Blog subjects for which the answer is "The Laser", and there are clearly specialists out there on this topic.

So what else to say? Well some random thoughts:
  • I don't like drifting so more wind is more fun than less
  • ... unless you are in a force 10, in which case more wind is less fun
  • More boat heel means less speed
  • Less boat weight means more speed
  • .... and most people want to more speed than less (how often do you hear "yes I know I came first but would much rather have come lower down in the rankings")
  • There seems to be boat inflation in which a medium sized cruiser used to be 35 feet and is now 40 feet (or is that the waistline in inches?)
  • Less instruments makes the sailor better at reading the wind
  • Less expensive boats mean more entries (e.g. Volvo vs Open 40s)
  • Less complex boats means ditto (Star vs Laser)
  • For an infrequent sailor its more cost effective to own less and charter more
  • A shorter blog post is more readable than a long one, so that's the list for now!
There is one Laser idea that's been on the list on my iPhone for a few months so this might be a good time dust it off and see if its any good (& whether if can get it done by the deadline).

6 comments:

doryman said...

JP,
Conundrums abound, and you will find no one more committed to Less is More than Doryman, but may I add to your list: Waterline.
A clear case of more is more.
Thus, as in all things, nature dictates.

Zen and the Art of DoryMan

JP said...

Yes, Mr Plimsoll's great invention (if that's what you mean) is indeed simple and life saving at the same time.

Carol Anne said...

In this case, I think Michael meant the length of the boat at its waterline -- the longer the waterline of the boat, the faster its natural hull speed.

This can be deceptive, though. The Etchells' waterline is only 22 feet, except when it heels at exactly the right angle, the waterline becomes 28 and a half feet, and it really takes off.

Tillerman said...

Or maybe not.

The Laser's waterline may be less than an Etchells' so it's theoretical maximum displacement speed is less. Probably around 4-5 knots for a Laser and 7 knots for an Etchells? But when I start planing.... woo hoo, bye bye Carol Anne.

Less is more.

JP said...

Ok, I'll admit you are both right if can go off sailing somewhere warm for a few weeks to test these theories.

Please!

Carol Anne said...

JP, you're on. Come to Elephant Butte; we have a regatta this coming weekend. You could be crew on an Etchells, or maybe you could borrow a Laser from the guy who won the monohull division of the 10-mile race at the Sunrise Regatta.