The Boat or the Sailor?

[Bill]

Answer is in the professionals

I think a look at the Americas cup answers the question. Competitors spend large sums of money on figuring out how to squeeze the last bit of peformance out of the boat. At the same time they seek seasoned professionals that can get the most out of this design. The answer has to be both. A better design will help the sailor sail better, but given the same design the skills of the sailor will always prevail. Sailing like many other things can be accomplished with some basic skills but to be the best requires many years of training, practice, research and the will to combine these to be the best at the sport. Also it is interesting that the skills required to be the best in one class of sailboat can differ between boats. Having sailed with my brother (a small day sail owner) and having him sail with me (a larger boat with winches and all sorts of other gizmos) I find that although I am more confident that I can trim my boat better, I know I could never approach him in tuning his boat for maximum performance (I also feel he is alot closer to passing my abilities than I am approaching his).

 

[John Pierce]

Knowledge and aFeel

I have raced actively in boats under 16 feet. Most were plaining hulls. The small boats teaches you about: sail trim, crew position, board position, wind shifts. You really get to feel like part of the boat. I now sail an ODay 25. This is a different ball game. Sail trim and reading the wind is key but crew weight seems of little import. Wheh the wind is over 15 its not much fun to sail.Bottom line is skill is important but so is design.

 

[Tim Welsh]

going from the sticks to beverly hills

The sailor is alot of it, but the boat defanitly makes a difference. I just upgraded from a buccaneer 272 to a hunter 34 and my first sail on the hunter was solo in 13 to 15 mile and hour winds. no whitecaps in sight. the whole time I was having a hardtime keeping her on a strait course. Is tender or weatherhelm the word I am looking for? Going upwind she was just dancing away on me. I kept having to correct. Well now that Ive had her for a month on the water she is the most comfortable boat I have ever sailed now. I guess the main reasons she's mine and I'm getting used to her now. So most sailors that complain about different boats probably don't own the boat they are complaining about..........Tim Welsh....Cabo Wabo Port of Conway Arkansas

 

[Miles]

Sure Helps

An ideal combination is both sailing experience and a well designed boat. You'll get alot more satisfaction and results with an experienced sailor. A experienced sailor can get the maximum out of a poorly designed boat, but the best designed boat won't do much if you don't know how to sail her

 

[Bill Stumpf]

Definately the Sailor

Definitely the sailor.I believe you can learn 80% of how to sail in a short time. The other 20% takes a lifetime. I have had occasions to have friends on my boat with much greater sailing knowledge and experience. They make small adjustments which give big improvements. I’m still learning and that’s what makes it interesting.

 

[Brian]

Even a Monkey

Even with a monkey at the helm a boat can "drift" across a body of water. But I think it takes a skilled and experienced "sailer" to get the most from any design. If this was'nt the case there would be no use in practicing.

 

[Sid R Ballantyne]

A little of both

I would have to say that it is both the sailor and the boat. As you say you couldn't win the America's cup in just any boat. However not all sailors given the same boat would get the same performance from it. Experience definitely has value.

 

[Mark Wieber]

when you meet him, he will win.

I was witness to a NASA RX7 driver requesting the licensing instructor (a former season champion) to drive thier car and evaluate what it needed to win. After one 20 minute session the instructor said "I could win in this car". The car owner wanted to see this, so he offered his car up for a weekend. The instructor won 2 out of 4 races on the agreed upon weekend. This car had never managed to finish in the top 5 before.In any kind of racing, some people have the raw talent, some the time and drive to practise, some run accross an awesome mechanic, and some can afford the best equipment. On my refridgerator is a sign saying "remmember, when you are not practising, some one somewhere is practising. And when you meet him he will win".Mark

 

[Robert S. Morse]

Definitely the sailor!!!

I regularly see "slower" boats beat "faster" ones (before time correction) due to the skills of the sailor. Knowing how to properly trim the sails, how and when to use the traveler and vang and ease the outhaul are crucial. Also, does one make a series of short tacks to the windward mark, or just a couple long reaches?

 

[Richard Armstrong]

Still learnin'

After 24 years with her, she's still trying to teach me how to sail. She makes a little progress now and then.

 

[Jim Morrison]

Obviously the Wrong Tack

Of course the skill of the skipper wins one design races. A few of the things the skipper has to deal with and know about are wind angle, current, clear air, shifting gears, tactics, sea state and recognizing shifts. As if that isn't enough he has to manage his crew. In one design fleets I've sailed in the best skipper could still win, and did, in the slowest boat in the fleet. A boat that is obviously on the wrong tack isn't likely to reach the weather mark with the rest of the fleet. On the other hand, you can't expect a boat with a substantially shorter water line, worse rating, and less sail area to beat even an average sailor in a boat designed for much higher performance.

 

[Rich Songer]

Its Both!!!!

You can't separate the two. If you aren't working with the boat and sailing by what you've learned in a book or classroom, you are in big trouble. Being a novice, I talk from experience when it comes to what it takes. Working with the boat, things just click and life is good. Working against the boat and trying to force knowledge into the sail and course led to rocks and a near sinking.... Yep, I vote for both.....

 

[Allan C. Timms]

ONE DESIGN RACING !

Is it the boat or is it the skipper?Yacht racing posseses two catigories (among many) of racing to answer each question individually. The America's Cup is a great way to see who can build a better boat. Hearing results such as the new keel design had proven to be the winning edge to take the Cup can be rather discouraging to a crew that just sailed decisivly Better fom the start, tacticallyand every other winning aspect of yacht racing. This is a Formula type yacht racing.One design racing most accuratly determines what skipper and or crew sailed more consistantly to win the event thus, be the best sailor. My best racing experience was competing in the Hobie Class Racing Association. Take a look at the Hobie cat 16. She has no dagger boards and really nothing high-aspect about her compaired to the high tec plaining Inter 20 type design of today. The key is the staggering numbers of teams competing on weighed and measured boats, switching to a different assigned boat after each race. After all this one logical conclusion can be determined, IT AIN'T THE BOAT- IT'S THE SAILOR(S) Ya think?

 

[Mark]

Sailor for sure to be sure

We often read about this boat does this and that boat does that and some are blue water yachts and others are not.It is absolute rubbish!You can sail a Canadian canoe around the world if you know how to read the weather and can work out the seas.Yep we have seen them do it over the past century.I think, correction I know most people who judge the quality of yachts to travel the world generaly do not leave the dock but simply sit in their pen consuming chardonay and cheese with their friends!

 

[Barry Sanders]

swap boats with your opposition and still beat him

My title said it all.

 

[tom]

since its all the sailor

lets all have just one type of boat to cut costs. Let's have Catalina 30's for every purpose. Sailing to Australia get a Cat 30. Little mountain lake same boat.  To think that I've wasted two years and read three books to pick the best boat for a couple to cruise. A catlina 22 swing keel or a Pacific Seacraft Orion no difference!!!!! Hell I could've kept my Macgregor 26 and used it to sail around the world.... I guess the different handling/speed charateristics of the several boats I've sailed are just an illusion. Allied Seawind II or Pearson 31 no difference!!!! Both suitable for circumnavigation.... By the way do sails matter???? I've got some old blown out ones in the garage......

 

[Jean Gosse]

Round Robin

Bigger boats generally sail faster. Buying a bigger boat won't make you a faster sailor.A quick look at ratings for a boat will give you an idea of its potential speed.Skippers can be evaluated by a "round robin" series. Half a dozen one-design boats, each skipper (with his crew) sails each boat, in a series of races.The best, or most adaptable, skipper will come out on top. He will be able to bring out the best in each boat regardless of its rigging faults of strengths,This could best be done in a single-handed dinghy so the input from a talented crew could not affect the skippers performance.

 

[Ron]

YES !!- Good day -it's me; bad day -it's the boat

And on a really, really good day, it's me and my WONDERFUL boat

 

[the Pirate of Sha-lin]

Racing

It has to be both the sailor and the boat. My other 1/2 and I spent a year racing 4000 lbs. of Bristol 22, and regularly placed 3rd against a fleet of 22 Tanzers. When I raced my 22 Catalina against another C-22, the skipper and I were pretty equally matched experience-wise. He had a shiny new mylar 155 Genoa, I had the original 25 yr old baggy mainsail, and a shiny new Dacron 155 Genoa. He couldn't catch me downwind, but I couldn't catch him upwind. Also, it has to do with how serious you are about racing. Winning is no fun if the racing was no fun.

 

[jcherubini]

Eddie Van Halen's answer

Years ago when Eddie Van Halen was interviewed for 'Guitar Player' magazine he commented on how he had reworked his guitar. He was reluctant to reveal all his secrets (like rewinding the Gibson PAF pickups to be tighter and then sealing them in melted surfboard wax) but finally concluded, 'My guitar is my guitar, and that's why it gets those sounds. I could get these sounds out of your guitar, but if you used my guitar you couldn't get the sounds I get out of it.'With equal boats, the better sailor wins. But with unequal boats, the better sailor will still get more get more out of his slow boat than the other guy will with his.JC 2