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BOATS
One of you asked me what boats I think are hot. I think boats like the Thompson 35 are very hot - big rig, huge and I mean HUGE kites, great hull shape. They need to be fun and responsive to sail - all the obvious stuff. Yes, the Open 30, 40, 50's, etc., are certainly cutting edge, but my tastes tend to run slightly more conventional. Let me explain. I've always liked handicap racing, and always liked the boats that the various rules created. I know that in retrospect the boats of yesterday look pretty goofy, but they didn't in their day! I remember when Doug Peterson launched his One Tonner "Ganbare" on the world. Revolution, anybody? Speaking of One-Tonners, does anybody remember when the first wide transom, fractional rigged daggerboard boats appeared from New Zealand, like Paul Whiting's "Smackwater Jack". Christ, talk about a new reality! Undoubtedly today's boats have a clear lineage to those wonders from down under
In terms of designers, I've rarely seen a boat from Bruce Farr that I didn't like. If you can get Peterson off of his ass (pretty unlikely now that he has made yet another fortune, this time with Prada), nobody draws a better boat. I love the aesthetics of John Reichel. If you've seen his big turbo sleds like Pyewackett, Pegasus, Zephyrus or Chance, you know what I'm talking about. And Alan Andrews is showing that he can open it up as well with his new Transpac 52'. And since I'm a guy who thought that tall rigged, high aspect mainsailed, pin-tailed IOR boats were the shit (can you say "Gonnagitcha"?), that mentality carried over to IMS. I love the look and performance of today's IMS boats. They're the equivalent of today's F-1 car: constrained by rules yes, but very fast, purposeful and sexy. And obsolete the next year. Of course this is a very incomplete list. One of the most fun regattas I ever sailed was on board a friend's Cheetah 30. The boat was just such a blast to sail - especially off the wind. Now to me, that is the type of boat that should predominate today's thinking: light, responsive, simple and really quick, especially for their length.
I love the innovators of the sport, but I usually prefer it within some sort of rule. But not always. In fact, if I were going to buy a new race boat today, it would most likely be a Thompson 35. What do you guys like and why?
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