R&J Sails

When I first bought my Minisail, she came with the usual pathetically stretchy nylon mainsail that was probably in part responsible for the boat's downfall.

She just would not go to windward properly, though she was still quick on a reach.

The solution? A new sail, of course!

Knowing of R&J sails from their work with British Moths, and knowing they made replica Topper sails, this seemed like a good place to go.

Sure enough, Dick Hannaford new exactly what I was talking about, and for a very reasonable price, produced me a lovely red and white striped sail.

The upwind performance of the boat has been transformed. Whilst she will never be sparkling to windward, at least she will point in the same direction as everthing else!

On a reach, however, she now flies - up and planing sooner, and able to go lower and still stay on the plane.

So, all in all, if you are looking to boost your Minisailing fun, get in touch with R&J sails

http://www.rjsails.co.uk/

Aquabat

When LT Rudman, designer of the Beachcomber, decided to put a bermudan rig on the boat, rather than the Lateen, he ended up with a bot that is sometimes confused with the Minisail - the Aquabat.

The bright yellow decks taper far more sharply between bow and mast, and the bright yellow sail is longer in the foot, but otherwise, they ar easily mistaken, which is how Rob, owner of the Aquabat at the coaching weekend, came to be in touch with us. A quick trip to the cvrda website showed what he really had, but luckily he has stayed in touch.

My apologies to Rob for the video clip below. It doesn't show him or the boat off very well, but does show what she looks like.

What a sunny weekend at Whitefriars!

Thanks to cars breaking down, in the end we had 3 Minisails at the Classic and Vintage training session on Whitefriars lake on the wekend of 24/25 August sorry, March. We also had an Aquabat and a Beachcomber come down - very interesting to compare the boats.

David A brought his Minisprint and Tom his new Monaco with bolt on seat, to join me and my Sprite. Saturday was beautifuly warm with a light breeze. I was on the committee boat for the morning, and so couldn't sail, but in the afternoon I took mine Minisail out and ran a singlehanded coaching session, concentrating on tacking and gybing. As well as the 3 minisails and Aquabat, we had a Megabyte and a Skol MKII International Moth taking part. The British Moths and the doublehanders having split into other groups.

I hope David and Tom gained in skill and confidence in throwing the Minisail around in light breezes whilst fighting with a sliding seat.

Sunday, I was offered a ride in a British Moth for the morning, so jumped in that. Everyone was training together doing mini races, and David and Tom had some epic battles, finishing at least one race side by side.

All in all, and excellent weekend of sailing. I hope more us us can meet up again soon.