Sailing Things #67: 49erFX (Bonus! Type of Boat 11)
At the time I did this challenge, I hadn't started sailing the FX. I don't think it had even been introduced yet (or maybe it was just newly established as the new female double-handed skiff Olympic class). Anyway, I first started sailing this boat in 2013. And it was love at first launch.
So here's a bonus 11th item for 10 types of boats, because I cannot believe I have next to no mention at all of the FX here.
It's taken me many years to really pinpoint what, precisely, I love about sailing. It's not a single thing, of course. I love how it's like stepping into a different world, where you can leave the annoyances from this world behind for those few hours out on the water. I love when the weather's great and the breeze is just perfect and there's this sense of contentment skimming along on the water. But most of all, I love the thrill of being in control of the elements, knowing that you can harness them and make the boat do exactly what you want. And it takes so much training to get to that point--years and years and years--but then you finally realise that a boat is a boat is a boat, and the principles remain the same. The way your body weight affects speed and turning, how your movements, your adjustments of the sail--how it all fits together. You and the boat are one, gliding through the water.
It's the challenging parts of sailing that fill me with the most joy.
It's why I love rudderless sailing. And prefer dinghy sailing to keelboat, because while I certain do not enjoy a capsize, I take great pleasure in the fact that the boat can capsize, only I'm managing to keep it upright.
I adore the speed, too, although it can get scary to the point of terrifying at times. It's sort of like how people like rollercoasters (which I used to, kind of, until motion sickness got the best of me). No motion sickness when going real fast on a boat, though, at least not for me. It's when the boat doesn't move and bobs up and down on the spot that there's the greatest danger of seasickness.
Anyway, the FX hits all those spots. It's an immensely challenging boat because of its instability. Unlike most other boats I've sailed, the skiff design is one that doesn't balance well in the water--without a wide base, the boat is always in danger of tilting to one wing or the other and capsizing once that goes in.
It was adapted from the 49er (hence the full name, 49erFX) as a women's skiff class for the Olympics, first making its debut in Rio2016 (which means it came onto the circuit right after London2012). You can read the specs on Wikipedia, but I won't bore you with technical details.
Instead, have some pictures!
Back view: the boat has wings of sort, and balances on a very limited base. A lot of control is necessary to keep it horizontal (which is the best way to go straight), involving all those things I've mentioned in previous posts about sail adjustments, body weight and such (the rudderless sailing post covers a lot of it so I won't recap that here). And it's a twin trapeze boat, which means both people on the boat get to go out on the wire. I love that part, too. My previous boats were all hiking classes on the skipper's part, at least, and that's not one of the joys of sailing. I enjoyed running about all over the boat a whole lot more.
There's a spinnaker as well for the offwind sailing, although due to the asymmetrical spinnaker design, we can't go dead away from the wind, but in a zigzag fashion, similar to how we sail upwind, though the angles are broader. And the faster you go, the closer downwind you can sail, because of something called apparent wind.
Here are some videos! (I have tons ... my coach took plenty when we were sailing, because that's his style. Catch it on camera and take it into the debrief.)
Bear in mind these were taken when we were only 6 and 9 months in, and it's been said it takes at least a year to become really good. (People have also said it takes 6 months to really learn how to even sail a skiff, though, so I think we were doing fairly well considering my crew had only been sailing for a year by that point!)
This one showing a bunch of manoeuvres going around two marks. I chose it because you can see all the points of sail as we do the turns, including a tack and a gybe. (Also there was a semi-decent tack, which my coach does flag up, though half his commentary is in Chinese.)
And here's a super long downwind video, but I like it because it's in waves and high speed (I think it was 15 knots or so?) so not easy conditions, but definitely exciting. There's two gybes towards the end so you can see how we manage with the spinnaker. Half the time those manoeuvres result in capsizes, but these didn't. :)
Now I'm really missing this boat. I need to get myself a single-handed skiff. One day, if I'm in a permanent location with a definitely job. That's my dream, anyway.
Take the 100 things challenge @ 100things_index!
Masterlist Progress: 67/100
So here's a bonus 11th item for 10 types of boats, because I cannot believe I have next to no mention at all of the FX here.
It's taken me many years to really pinpoint what, precisely, I love about sailing. It's not a single thing, of course. I love how it's like stepping into a different world, where you can leave the annoyances from this world behind for those few hours out on the water. I love when the weather's great and the breeze is just perfect and there's this sense of contentment skimming along on the water. But most of all, I love the thrill of being in control of the elements, knowing that you can harness them and make the boat do exactly what you want. And it takes so much training to get to that point--years and years and years--but then you finally realise that a boat is a boat is a boat, and the principles remain the same. The way your body weight affects speed and turning, how your movements, your adjustments of the sail--how it all fits together. You and the boat are one, gliding through the water.
It's the challenging parts of sailing that fill me with the most joy.
It's why I love rudderless sailing. And prefer dinghy sailing to keelboat, because while I certain do not enjoy a capsize, I take great pleasure in the fact that the boat can capsize, only I'm managing to keep it upright.
I adore the speed, too, although it can get scary to the point of terrifying at times. It's sort of like how people like rollercoasters (which I used to, kind of, until motion sickness got the best of me). No motion sickness when going real fast on a boat, though, at least not for me. It's when the boat doesn't move and bobs up and down on the spot that there's the greatest danger of seasickness.
Anyway, the FX hits all those spots. It's an immensely challenging boat because of its instability. Unlike most other boats I've sailed, the skiff design is one that doesn't balance well in the water--without a wide base, the boat is always in danger of tilting to one wing or the other and capsizing once that goes in.
It was adapted from the 49er (hence the full name, 49erFX) as a women's skiff class for the Olympics, first making its debut in Rio2016 (which means it came onto the circuit right after London2012). You can read the specs on Wikipedia, but I won't bore you with technical details.
Instead, have some pictures!
Back view: the boat has wings of sort, and balances on a very limited base. A lot of control is necessary to keep it horizontal (which is the best way to go straight), involving all those things I've mentioned in previous posts about sail adjustments, body weight and such (the rudderless sailing post covers a lot of it so I won't recap that here). And it's a twin trapeze boat, which means both people on the boat get to go out on the wire. I love that part, too. My previous boats were all hiking classes on the skipper's part, at least, and that's not one of the joys of sailing. I enjoyed running about all over the boat a whole lot more.
There's a spinnaker as well for the offwind sailing, although due to the asymmetrical spinnaker design, we can't go dead away from the wind, but in a zigzag fashion, similar to how we sail upwind, though the angles are broader. And the faster you go, the closer downwind you can sail, because of something called apparent wind.
Here are some videos! (I have tons ... my coach took plenty when we were sailing, because that's his style. Catch it on camera and take it into the debrief.)
Bear in mind these were taken when we were only 6 and 9 months in, and it's been said it takes at least a year to become really good. (People have also said it takes 6 months to really learn how to even sail a skiff, though, so I think we were doing fairly well considering my crew had only been sailing for a year by that point!)
This one showing a bunch of manoeuvres going around two marks. I chose it because you can see all the points of sail as we do the turns, including a tack and a gybe. (Also there was a semi-decent tack, which my coach does flag up, though half his commentary is in Chinese.)
Click to viewAnd here's a super long downwind video, but I like it because it's in waves and high speed (I think it was 15 knots or so?) so not easy conditions, but definitely exciting. There's two gybes towards the end so you can see how we manage with the spinnaker. Half the time those manoeuvres result in capsizes, but these didn't. :)
Now I'm really missing this boat. I need to get myself a single-handed skiff. One day, if I'm in a permanent location with a definitely job. That's my dream, anyway.
Take the 100 things challenge @ 100things_index!
Masterlist Progress: 67/100