Marty P,
Happy to see you are ready to "take the training wheels off" so to speak and get into a spin class. That was the original intent of the cruising class so its good to see it in action!
A few thoughts...
-If you are ready to give the A-Kite a try, going with a bow mounted kite and sailing in the new class is an inexpensive and great way to start. You will get the speed benefits of an A-Kite without a massive rating hit or expensive boat modification. It is also a great way to get familiar with how the kites handle (if you aren't already familiar) and how your boat best reacts to it.
-If you want to go the aftermarket sprit route, sym pole off the headstay with an A-Kite, or get one of local fiberglass gurus to build you a fixed sprit you will have officially entered into the "race boat" realm and should be racing in the standard Asym class (yes, the one with the other "race boats").
-Choose the class that best supports your goals and budget (buying full size Asyms can be a slippery slope, many different cuts to choose from/have down below---ask anyone of the owners).
In a world of depleting fleets, the best thing to do is to get more boats in a same class rather than segregate them based on the fine print. Competing against more boats will force you to push harder, prepare better, and make new friends who I know are more than happy to share their own experiences in the class. So whether you choose to join the new Asym bow class or the full Asym class I promise you will find your races more fun, but also the competition more challenging. But that is kind of the point of racing!
Last point...there has been so much discussion and grumblings over the Rum and Icicle series over the last couple years about how the same boats always win, my boat cannot win, etc. The fact of the matter is these races are very very hard to win. I have raced them frequently for over 10 years on all shapes and sizes from heavy cruisers, melgi, J-everything, 1Ds, VX, and beach cats. The few times I was on a boat that was lucky enough to win we certainly earned it and had a good amount of luck on our side as well which makes a Rum/Icicle victory that much sweeter! So to everyone, try to keep focus on building your class numbers up rather than creating new classes for more trophies. Winning one every 5 years is way more memorable than sweeping one other boat for a summer...
Cheers.
Happy to see you are ready to "take the training wheels off" so to speak and get into a spin class. That was the original intent of the cruising class so its good to see it in action!
A few thoughts...
-If you are ready to give the A-Kite a try, going with a bow mounted kite and sailing in the new class is an inexpensive and great way to start. You will get the speed benefits of an A-Kite without a massive rating hit or expensive boat modification. It is also a great way to get familiar with how the kites handle (if you aren't already familiar) and how your boat best reacts to it.
-If you want to go the aftermarket sprit route, sym pole off the headstay with an A-Kite, or get one of local fiberglass gurus to build you a fixed sprit you will have officially entered into the "race boat" realm and should be racing in the standard Asym class (yes, the one with the other "race boats").
-Choose the class that best supports your goals and budget (buying full size Asyms can be a slippery slope, many different cuts to choose from/have down below---ask anyone of the owners).
In a world of depleting fleets, the best thing to do is to get more boats in a same class rather than segregate them based on the fine print. Competing against more boats will force you to push harder, prepare better, and make new friends who I know are more than happy to share their own experiences in the class. So whether you choose to join the new Asym bow class or the full Asym class I promise you will find your races more fun, but also the competition more challenging. But that is kind of the point of racing!
Last point...there has been so much discussion and grumblings over the Rum and Icicle series over the last couple years about how the same boats always win, my boat cannot win, etc. The fact of the matter is these races are very very hard to win. I have raced them frequently for over 10 years on all shapes and sizes from heavy cruisers, melgi, J-everything, 1Ds, VX, and beach cats. The few times I was on a boat that was lucky enough to win we certainly earned it and had a good amount of luck on our side as well which makes a Rum/Icicle victory that much sweeter! So to everyone, try to keep focus on building your class numbers up rather than creating new classes for more trophies. Winning one every 5 years is way more memorable than sweeping one other boat for a summer...
Cheers.
