RS FEVA

Copy, paste?<img src=icon_smile_big.gif border=0 align=middle>
Otherwise please email it to me.

Wheeeeeeeee!

where is the reply? we have been waiting two weeks for this little gem from the Acme Factory.

Can I just add my thoughts to this. I race a fireball ... when the 49er was announced as the Olympic boat all the young and ummm fit sailors left for the 49er fleet ... for 3 years the fireball seemed to be rather quiet but ... the ressurection has happened ... as they all realised that the 49er fleet had become a rich persons game needing new sails every two weeks cos they were all puncturing them with their harnesses there has been a move back towards the fleet! <img src=icon_smile_cool.gif border=0 align=middle>It's actually amazing ... there will be over 100 boats and the nationals this year and 165 at the worlds and if any of you happen to be in Teignmouth and want to look at an alternative to the Olympic boats and see a fantastic symmetric boat in action come and see us! 6th - 19th August.

My point, at the end of the day the Feva is a pig to sail for a lot of youngsters ... as long as the mirror is fun and has great strength in its dedicated sailors (which you all are) then it will make it past this asymmetric fad ... because they will come back in the end.

Just a thought!

Amanda<img src=icon_smile_wink.gif border=0 align=middle>

why was the 505 dropped from the olympics?

daily mirror=gutter press
international mirror=gunter press

Newbie to Mirrors and this forum but may I offer a couple of thoughts;

- I suspect the sailing holiday companies are an enormously important shop window for boatbuilders, many people will come home and buy something that they enjoyed sailing at Sunsail, Neilson etc. It certainly won't have been a Mirror and going forward it's increasingly less likely even to have been GRP, plastic is the future for "beach boats";

- the plastic boats are truly "one-design" and that has a lot of appeal for many people. I bought what I naively thought was a very good condition Mirror only to realise (or have it pointed out to me) that it was a Ford Cortina compared to the Ferraris the other kids at our club are sailing. I have spent more in upgrades than I spent on the boat and whilst I am fortunate to have the time, money AND inclination for all this tinkering, not everybody does.

The rise of the plastic classes seems to me inevitable but for equal and opposite reasons I think older classics like the Mirror will continue to have huge appeal. We already love our Mirror!

Did anyone see the Feva in Sweden? Apparently it was the only one in the country and it was parked in full view of the Mirror fleet. To me that smacks of desperation.

Houlie

Don't concern with new boats, you have a proven classic. Most real sailors see through the hype. Keep promoting your class, keep attracting good and not so good sailors and the class will never die.

Symetric kites are as good as asys, just different. I've done skiffs and that, but I love a good class with syms as well.

Keep it positive, all that knocking another class does is give new people here the idea to have a look at them.

For a healthy debate on the feva, go to www.sailing.ie , and look at the "future of junior sailing" discussion on the bulletin boards.

I agree with the shop window comments on sailing holidays. We need to ensure that the class succeeds in the future. I believe that there is a need for plastic boats. There has been much discussion on the new 'winder' mirrors. I sail a winder Ball (amongst other things) and all I can say is the quality and longevity has envigorated the class enormously , to the point it has almost become a true one design class. I would really like to see this quality with the mirror and if guy can enable the boat to be made more cheaply with better quality and longevity then the members should embrace wholeheartedly. Not only that but the depreciation of guys boats is very low.

Cheers

Trevor

N2O

Trevor, I am about to fit out my latest Winder Fireball.I have previously sold my other Winder Fireballs for more than they cost me to put on the water and both were 5 years old. Guy and his team have done a great job on the Fireball, Merlin, Solo & National 12 so it would look very promising for a Winder Mirror. The great skill Guy has is being able to reduce build costs. In the case of the Fireball quite significant changes were made to the class rules to enable cost reduction in moulding the boats in particular the cockpit & deck mouldings.
The Mirror class needs to adapt to changing times. Your string on plywood panels is an example of where the class needs to alter the rules and allow flexibility. Burying your head in the sand approach and hoping the other classes will fail because of their weaknesses is not the way forward. Making the Mirror cheaper, more accesible will make the boat more attractive to people starting out on a low budget.
In response to the varying opinions on assymetric classes the Laser 5 & 4000`s, Buzz`s, ISO`s etc... sitting in boatparks around the country is largely down to the class associations, poor marketing and a pretty naff product to start with. The RS fleets however have a fantastic association, amazing open & national fleets and have some of the best sailors in the country sailing in them - it would seem that the Class association are then pivotal in the success or demise of a class.
As for the Fireball class (my own true love) the results speak for themselves. We were threatened by newer, faster, more modern, cheaper boats, but a strong class association and a forward thinking top boatbuilder have seen the class overcome these threats.

Cheers,
Andy



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