Mini 12's

There were some really good sailors there She even beat her old man.

 

Hull length/displacement mode is a great equalizer. We all know this but I think we don't appreciate the beneficial aspect of keeping competition close.

In the case of the mini 12 I would say that any positives from a larger body mass are mitigated due to the inability to shift weight. A 10 year old girl would have a significant advantage in lighter all up weight with pretty much the same righting moment. I think my money would be on your daughter in a race with PAR.

About your hull molds, a better place to list them is here : http://www.boatdesign.net/forums/boat-molds/

 

When hulls and rigs are the same, races boil down to trim and tactics. I can't imagine getting beat by a novice sailor in any race, with equal boats, nor would I expect any serious sailor. I'm glad your daughter did well, but having a novice beat a fleet repeatedly, isn't a testament to her skill, as much as the lack of it in the rest of the fleet. Most novice sailors can run the boat to within 95% of it's potential, with some training, but that last 5% is where the good sailors crush the mid and back of the fleet sailors.

This is why the same skippers are always at the front of the fleet, come race day, while equally true of the mid and back of the fleet sailors. I've never seen an exception to this, especially in light and modest air. I regularly race about 25 other boats in two different fleets and I'm always in the same relative position, as are about 4 or 5 others. We (the 5 - 6 of us) know we're the ones we're racing and though some luck comes to play occasionally, there's the 5 of us and the rest of the sailors wonder why. The answer is fairly simple, we're keeping the boat in the groove, for a higher percentage of time then they are, which just equals VMG. Lastly we're also pretty cut throat in regard to tactics, which often just frustrates the novice.

 

Par; those words of wisdom, born of experience and wisdom, made me smile.

It is not easy, and not likely, that newbies will find and keep the groove, anticipate shifts, identify and use cats paws, stay on the right tack or recognize the need to go the other way, employ wicked legal tactics, use the currents, and more.

Every once in a while there arrives a natural talent that has that kind of mysterious skill in their bones. True, but very rare. Those rare individuals are most irritating for veteran sailors who do know what they are doing and get beat anyway. Been there, done that.

Bottom line: Equal boats do not equate to equal performance.

 

Tactics

Imagine PAR being "cut throat"
B

 

Who me . . .

There's no friends on the race course.

 

Wanna see some really dirty pool? Try team racing.

Actually team racing is instructive because one learns how to mess up the other teams boats pretty quickly....or fall victim himself.

 

I'm involved as the designer in a powerboat racing class, for a single team and the rule cheating, dirty tricks, spying and out right theft is astounding. I'm even getting caught up in it, insisting on the prop and rudder being covered at all times, except when she's launched on race day, which of course is done very early, before any one has shown up. I have another hidden weapon, that offers a few extra knots on the top end, that is covered with a Tupperware bowl and duct tape (the bowl hides it's shape), until she's launched. These HP limited classes are as cut throat as you can imagine and if you win too regularly, you get dyno'd and measured.