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Julian
Bethwaite driving his championship winning 18-foot skiff AAMI in
the early 90's |
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All credit must go to the Eighteen foot skiff class for the breakthrough from conventional, slow, "blow downwind" sailing to
modern, fast, "tack downwind" sailing. When we look at the skiffs, they are long, feather-light craft with big sails, wide powerful wings and fit, athletic, alert and anarchic crews who view restrictive rules with contempt and who are always trying something new.
As far as the Eighteens are concerned, the invention of the asymmetric spinnaker and the associated development of the ice-yacht like apparent-wind downwind sailing technique has been just one more first that worked, and it is now time to focus on the next possible way to sail a little bit faster. |
For
the remainder of this article please consult a copy of the November edition
of Seahorse.
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