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Demo Sail Last Saturday ABYC (LA Harbor)

Started by Yvonne, June 21, 2016, 01:48:31 AM

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Yvonne

We met up with Jack H out of ABYC a few weeks ago, and he graciously offered up a full Saturday to go through the VX, then send us out for a sail to see what it's all about. Rigging very straight forward, systems well thought out. Had 3 sessions Saturday which went as follows.

First went out with 2 crew, exit the jetty, and it's breeze on! 18-20+ right out of the gate! Kind of wished we had that 3rd person, but was great to see how it went with 2. Rig wasn't quite set up for the breeze, cunno was maxed out (need to rerig), little things to fix; duck behind the oil island to adjust clew board setting (dropped 3 down) and off again. Coming from a trapeze primarily, & having not hiked in years, at first I kept wanting to grab a trap handle to keep the boat flat, but the boat is fairly comfortable to hike out on (helm had the padded hiking shorts, I had none). Pretty quick upwind, pop the kite, really fun surfing the rollers, hitting 16 knts downwind. Kite really easy to handle in breeze, helm neutral.

Session 2: Tune the rig for conditions, pick up Jack's son Ian, head back out. Instantly notice the 1-2 knot increase in speed upwind having the 3rd person on the rail. Do another tour of the harbor, still hitting 15.5 knts at times downwind, even with wind backing off to about 17-18.

Session 3: Exchange Ian for Gerry. The local Viper fleet wants to set up against the VX one, so we head out again. Breeze back up, really nice having 3rd person in 20+.  Line up w/ the Viper, takes us a little time to find our groove, but after a few practice tacks, start gaining on the Viper. Find the VX One moves nicely in chop, and we were able to gain slightly with each tack. Viper had better pointing but VX had speed. Pulled ahead just ahead of a yellow spar, popped the kite, and never looked back. Fun chute ride back.

Commentary from the cockpit:
-fun boat
-easy all around
-would def sail again
-where are the west coast fleets? :)
-where is the mast head kite? :D

Definitely a fun day on the water, esp in waves & breeze, it moves nicely. Having all 3 of us sailed Vipers briefly at one point or time, the VX One is a no brainer between the 2.  Looking forward to hearing about more events on the West Coast, esp CA.

Huge thanks again to Jack for showing us the ropes, & letting us go for a ride. Will def be back!

kpike

Re: Ca Regattas - If we enter 5 boats most regattas will give us a start. Currently I sail PHRF Keel boat at Richmond YC, Folsom, Yosemite, & Whiskytown.   Racing in Long Beach would be epic.  A course out to Pt. Fermin buoy and back outside the breakwater would be awesome.

ARGONAUT

#2
Yvonne, Thanks for the post! It was allot of fun on Saturday with You, your Husband, Gerry and my Son.
We have more demo's set.

Anyone in the Southern California area that would like to go for a sail, give me a post or email!

I hope we'll have another boat in the LA area shortly.

I just love this Skiff.

Cheers!

Jack


ARGONAUT

Kelly, you are the man!
Can't wait to see you next month!

Jack