International 14 Mailing List
Re: Being in SanFran, and being beaten by 505's

14

From: Thomas C Price (tprice@nadn.navy.mil)
Date: Thu 30 Mar 2000 - 17:44:36 BST

        Hi Ron. Interesting discussion. I sailed 505's (not very well) for
a few years after getting out of 14's and was amazed by their speed
upwind in a breeze. They are beautifully balanced, totally adjustable,
able to
depower easily to match the breeze strength, and ride along in a bow up
attitude making them easy to steer without a constant mainsheet
trimming routine. They have an unfortunate ability to fire hose the
skipper as that lovely flared topside arcs the bow wave right at the
skipper (if he's hiking hard). Downwind is another story. The class
demands the close reaching courses because it perks them up downwind. They
are pretty 470ish on a run.
        Last Fall,I had the opportunity to sail Lou Phillip's boat which
may be a
shade behind the new minimum volume boats with racks, but was tall rig and
max beam. After not sailing them for some years, I was amazed at
the difference. They readily break free upwind and feel like bigger boats
than I remembered. Downwind they seemed to be be less likely to stuff the
bow (to a point) and were way faster through a gybe. In all, despite their
engorged and dangerous appearance, my impression was that they are faster
and easier to steer (to a point).
        I chose to sail 505's as I had assumed that they were like
armchair 14's, but found them to be very hard to keep going as fast as
they should. You have to have all the adjustments right and there is
little extra power to spare. The boats are such a perfect design that they
feel excellent most of the time, though you may be significantly slower
than another. As opposed to the Fourteen which used to beat you up if not
being sailed just right. Which is better? Depends. What I am getting to is
that the boats are often
compared and probably used to be similar animals, but now they are very
different, with their own strengths and failings. Beyond appreciating the
differences, it's a dangerous path to follow in comparing the boats. Kind
of like if your wife asks you "Honey, do you think I'm fat?", or "Honey,
do you think that woman over there with the big chest is really pretty?"
        See you, Tom Price

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