I got back from Sheboygan yesterday where I took part in the US Olympic Match Racing Team training session on the new Elliott 6m. This was the first time these boats have been launched in the US the first 8 out of the factory are in Europe. The boats are a massive change from the J22, J24, Catalina 37, Sonars etc that are currently being used in match racing events throughout the country. They are keelboats that act like dinghies and have to be sailed like dinghies in order to be sucessful. The narrow foils mean that it is going to get interesting for the teams when they get into down speed maneouvres and will put a large emphasis on boat handling. The boats slide sideways until the flow attaches to the foils to create the lift. There is no backstay and the main is very large the spinnakers are relatively big and the jibs are small. The weight limit is 450lbs and the team has to be at weight and everyone needs to be able to hike hard.

It was interesting to get back into match racing after a 6 year hiatus and see how the discipline has changed maybe as a results of it becoming an olympic class. The average age of the women sailing is a lot lower and they almost all come from collage sailing backgrounds. So I was straight away at a disadvantage having stopped sailing dinghies when I was 12 years old!! They can roll tack like no tomorrow and seem to have thighs of steel when hiking out! The boats are very powered up requiring full on hiking using the hiking straps in 8 knots of wind. After a few days of sailing them I put together a few notes on things I would change on the layout side of things and hardware choices which I am sure will not be looked at but I always enjoy trying to dream up easier layouts etc.

I was sailing with Genny Tulloch who was very patient with me and really enjoyed learning from Dave Perry and Vince Brun. The guys worked very hard at the sailing center to get the boats out of customs and their containers and into the water so they could be sailed. Believe me I know how much work was involved in just putting the boats together. So all in all a great learning experience and now it is time to concentrate on my next adventure which kicks off it 3 1/2 weeks.