Give a group of sailing parents a hot brew, a decent slice of cake and a long morning in a clubhouse whilst their pride and joys are battling it out on the racecourse and all sorts of conversations, tales, and stories unfurl. At this point in the season, for the parents of older sailors in the class, ‘transitioning classes’ is a hot topic of conversation.
Moving on to your next class is the most exciting and scary thing a young sailor can do: new friendship groups, new venues, new coaches and most importantly, a new ship to get to grips with, usually throughout a long, chilly winter! This blog looks to introduce some of the RS classes that can complement a sailor’s sailing development when they want to transition from a single-hander to a double-hander. Ultimately, with the aim to make each class a progressive stepping stone rather than a huge leap of faith!
At a most basic level, there are four things you need to consider when preparing to change from a single-hander to a double-hander.
- Jib work
- Spinnaker work
- Trapezing
- Teamwork
Jib work
As silly as it sounds getting to grips with the jib is a huge milestone for any single-handed sailor. Set properly it can help you point like a weapon, savagely uncleated you can create enough jib flap to knock any team racing rival and don’t even get us started on slots. As soon as sailors get a feel for it and start to get a grip on those upwind modes, they can really start leaning on the jib and get trucking.
Which of our classes are a good fit to become jib wizards? And what can you play with in the jib set up?
- RS Feva – tack height position, luff tension, adjustable clew board
- RS200/RS400/RS500/2000 – luff tension, jib cars
- RS800 – luff tension, jib track, self tacking jib track, adjustable clew board, adjustable tack height position
Spinnaker Work
The spinnaker, a whole new world to a single-handed hero! For the RS800, that’s 21m² of fun to get to grips with, and we’d be lying if we said it’s not a learning curve – if that curve was shaped like an erratic rollercoaster! Simply rigging the thing is a new challenge to get around, but good pre-checks will allow the kite to pop as you round the windward mark, and there’s no better feeling in the world as you glide downwind with a ridiculous grin on your face. Whether you want to tackle a mighty masthead kite as with the RS21 or you’re going to take on a fractional height spinnaker instead, bigger is rarely better when it comes to learning a new skill. The larger that fractional height spinnaker is, the more of a handful you’ll have, but oh wow, it’s worth it when you get it right!
- Mast head spinnaker – RS21
- Fractional height spinnaker (smallest to largest) – RS Feva, 2000, RS200, RS400, RS500, RS800
Trapezing
Sailors Peter Scott and John Kift Winter developed the first ‘sea-going’ trapeze for use on their International 14, the duo used their new invention in the 1938 Prince of Wales Cup! Since that point, sailors have been in awe of the skill and agility it takes to trapeze off the side of the boat without being slingshot into the forestay, or wiping out your helm as you tap dance out the back of your boat.
What’s the mistake some transitioning sailors make? They try to learn to trapeze while getting to grips with a new powerful rig and a new teammate. Adding a stage to this process may feel like you’re dragging your heels, but ultimately, it will accelerate your learning – get to grips (no pun intended) with trapezing first, then add more power!
- 2000 – super stable and forgiving platform, dacron sail options for durability!
- RS500 – stable and forgiving platform, slightly livelier rig, dacron sail options
Team Work
Picking a sailing partner is pretty much like finding a life partner. There’ll be an initial honeymoon period when everyone is cute and polite, but once the giddy sailing flutters diminish, how is the sailing pairing going to last?
The definition of teamwork is ‘the the combined action of a group, especially when effective and efficient’. Be honest with yourself and really analyse your character traits. Do you need someone to complement those traits, or could a polarising personality give you the edge or the calm you need to achieve? Very much like a long-term relationship, you have to think wider too. What are their parents like? How far away do they live? Are they as committed to this partnership as you are? Do they snore? What skills are you looking for – are you a boat handling wizard with no internal compass?
So, how do you test this potential new team combo? Well, dating of course! Take the pressure off and join a one-off regatta together; the RS200 Nationals are wild on and off the water, the RS Feva Worlds always see huge numbers and loads of international sailors, and the RS500 Worlds race hard, and play hard too! Borrow or charter a boat, set some realistic goals, but ultimately go and have fun. Did you love sailing together? Great! If you didn’t, don’t ghost them; have an honest conversation at the end of the event and part ways amicably. Try and get some feedback beyond it’s “not you, it’s me” so that you can find a better fit in the future. You’ll find the one, and they’ll be worth the wait.
Transitioning
We genuinely wish all junior sailors luck as they move into their next class. If RS can be a part of that journey and help bridge the gap to their next class or inspire you into a lifetime of RS racing, then we’ll be proud as punch. Set yourselves SMART goals, be kind to yourselves and maximise the time you can spend on the water!
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