C22 Vs Lido 14
I used to sail a Lido 14 and although the principles are the same, the way you sail the two boats is way different. First of all the Lido 14 only weighed about 350 pounds. The C22 is 2350+. A strong puff in the Lido called for rapid hiking out and easing the main as well. There is not much inertia there to keep you from going over. On the C22 you will wnat to get your weight to the rail but the boat reacts much slower to the strong puff so you should be able to control it by easing the main. Most of the racers have the main set up with a ratchet block and a cam cleat coming off the center of the boom. That way you can play the main in and out to keep the boat flat. Speaking of flat, the C22 bottom is pretty flat compared to the Lido which is very round. Therefore theC@@ has a tendancy to stay flat as you will notice the first time you step on yours while it is in the water. I never set foot in my Lido more than a foot off the centerline when boarding from the dock! A big difference on the C22 is an adjustable backstay. If you do not have one, get one. In heavy air, you tighten up the backstay taking power out of the mainsail. You will notice a big change in your weather helm when you do this. You can also let the traveler go to weather to spill more air out of the main. Finally the Lido likes to be sailed on the verge of luffing the jib(pinching) and you always point up in the puffs. The C22 does not like to pinch as much and you always want to keep your momentum up because it does not accelerate as well. Both boats sail much better and faster when the angle of heel is small but it is a lot easier to control this on the C22, I have found.
