New weight categories, effective now.

I willingly admit, and have become one with my suckiness. Just forming a rationale for getting out. Too many things stacked against success provides diminishing returns on the value proposition. It's just that basic.

Rex, are you really on a Nacra F18? I'm sure you've seen the leap forward that designs took in about 2005 that has carried through to today... volume has increased dramatically with each iteration and the power in the rig has matched pace. Your team weight on a Tiger would yield very different results than your weight on designs that have come out this year or even last. The incremental improvements are small year-to-year, but cumulatively, they're remarkable. The good part of that is that you don't need a brand new boat to take advantage of increased volume and power for your weight range. Note that teams around 150kg did very well on Tigers at F18 Worlds (IMO).

Que the ratings discussion... yes, Virginia, the rating has stayed the same as the boat has gotten faster over time. Not my fault, and I don't race Portsmouth.

I know the feeling. I tried to bulk up some for ABYC, with limited success. I definitely got stronger, but I think I only added 3 or 4 pounds. Training for the NYC Marathon probably didn't help either....

We race an NF18 Infusion with all the bells and whistles, long boards, new sails, blah, blah, blah. As a team we've gotten better, but as competitive persons in other aspects of life, we simply are not at all competitive on this boat... (and we're kind of getting tired of trying to get there)

If your team is under 150 kg you're already going to be punished for it. Making these guys add corrector weights is just adding insult to injury.

I'm thinking 160 kg is probably the best all around weight.

Welcome to the 5th standard deviation <img src="<>/smile.gif" alt="smile" title="smile" height="15" width="15" />

If you are just looking for an excuse to get out then just do it. Waaaaaaa

Sailing in light air requires a lot of technique to keep your boat moving and reading the course lanes etc. Yes at +400 you likely have a little more work, but anyone can make their boat go in 12 and in the big stuff you have an advantage way above your skill level.
Good finishes when it blows like stink does not mean you area good sailor, just heavy. If you are going to use weight as an excuse, it swings both ways, use it properly

You aren't seriously trying to tell us light air requires more skill than the breeze, are you? Light air sailing aint rocket science and let's be honest when it's patchy it provides a lot more oportunties to get lucky. If you think going downhill heavy in a breeze is easy or doesn't take skill you clearly haven't done it enough. How many people end up on their side in 5 knots? How many people hit the beach because they are out of their element in the light?

Really, a bit more work at 400+? Do you sail at 400+? You have no clue what you're dealing with when you run at 400+ downhill in the breeze and waves. I've sailed heavy and I've sailed light, at the end of the day light is better!

Light air saling is for old men and little girls and it's just something we do to pass the time until the breeze fills in. What self respecting F18 sailor wants to sail in the light? It takes breeze to make our heavy boats go. Let the A-cat sailors sail in the light, F18's want breeze!

Not more skill but skill all the same. Light stuff and heavy stuff both separate out the fleet. (and the top guys still win in both - go figure)
A lot of people in 5 or less hit the beach becuse they are

out of their element

I know light teams who suck in light air becuse they do not have the skill or patience to do well. They have to admit it. The fat guys hide their poor sailing skills behind the weight excuse. - Just say'in

No doubt sailing light is going to be better, as long as it is not way light which has its own issues. The issue though should be tied in with politics and religion as logic seldom plays in the discussion.

Fat guy! Ding! He called us fat!! An anonymous girly man called us fat!!

Junior, to re-direct your immature, ADD-challenged mind to some facts, few top teams weigh in at 400lbs+. I know of one other, completely dedicated team who are struggling at this weight, and three others who are about in my same boat, who I am always finishing with in competitions. The original question is whether or not *an athletic 400lb team* of combined weight (team that weight-lifts and runs triathlons, bikes, BTW) can be competitive as middling-skilled sailors, or if the platform works against that weight in lighter conditions.

Got it yet?

Yeah...mmmkay...yeah...I've seen that happen exactly **NEVER** times ...

The F18 is no different from any other boat in the fact that certain conditions favor certain crew weights- there is no way around that, it is just physics. Where the good teams win regattas is by staying consistent in the conditions that don't favor them, and absolutely maximizing their performance in 'their' conditions.

One of the most frustrating parts of the worlds for Brooks and I was not taking advantage of the light air last race due to a poor start. It was absolutely our fault for not seizing the opportunity in front of us.

That said, there are certainly weight bands that are good all-around performers, and for the F18 I believe that is in the 150-160kg range. For the East Coast of the US where it is generally moderate breeze, the lower end of that range seems correct. The European teams, and especially the Dutch teams, seemed to sail heavier (160kg) because they spend more time sailing in breeze.

As far as corrector weights, I honestly don't think they make much of a difference.

If you sailed full time at a high level then the competitive weight would get lower as you work out how to sail the boat better in higher winds. The you have an advantage in the lighter stuff and not suffering in the heavier air.

luckily in F18 we are not that serious, so we find that the right weight is somewhere around 150kg.

...exactly where I am trying to square the upsides of practicing vs. the impact of our weight on overall performance. Of course we need to practice...that's a given. We suck. Give the Newtonian realities, I'm more thinking on the return on investment...

As for the correctors the light guys on our beach complain about the fact that the added weight is not 'live', but they are still, (as you know), are awfully fast. The only time we've (*ever*) beaten them racing (count on one hand...err three fingers...) is when it was honking around 15-20, where we were rolled better upwind and then we could lean our heavy butts off the transom going downwind.

hmmm... Must be getting to the end of the sailing season. Fights are starting to break out already. I think I'll pull up a chair and grab a beer. Should be an entertaining winter!

Crap. need a new keyboard. spit coffee all over screen. Best line of the morning Ding!

Does anyone care to fill a newb in on the weigh-in process? AKA is this done in full sailing gear, naked or somewhere in-between?

9/10 I'm carrying corrector weights+large sail plane. Unlike Ding weekly racing for me will be in light air against a few A-Cats so keeping the boat light certainly won't hurt. Any suggestions on where to acquire the corrector slugs that fit on the dolphin striker post?

weigh-ins at worlds were done in shorts and t-shirts. No shoes, hats, wallets, etc. Use dive weights as your corrector weights. It has to be the solid lead weights. Shot-weights are not legal (don't ask me how I know).

Pray tell, why is shot-weight illegal? Unless a hole appears in the weight bag and the stuff leaks out?

You answered your own question. After working weigh in at Worlds I can see how a bag of shot would inexplicably start leaking.

When you are little under weight you could drink a lot of water, or so I've heard.

That's why they have spot checks. You come off the water underweight you could get flicked for the day.

man, you make it sound so....official

Spot checks.
How many spots are you supposed to have? Stripes seem more reasonable. Safety gear,crew weights, boat weights and now spots. You keep up this mandatory spot requirement and you'll kill the class, Ding. F-16 is the future ,ya know. I heard it in Tybee Island,Ga. Back in the day we didn't need any Damn spots. Stripes were good enough for us.