Issue No: 41
Date: November 30th 2009

Dear Alberto,

So you may have been wondering, how the testing on the proto lightweight RS:X hull is going.  For those not in the know, David Mead from Neil Pryde brought this very special and unique hull to Weymouth for the RS:X Worlds. There, Alessandra Sensini [ITA] took it for a spin with the new  lipstick red sail and declared the concept a winner.

Since then the hull has been in the UK and under the feet of a range of sailors both men and women. It would be wrong to say that the testers are fighting over it because we don't do that sort of thing in England being naturally reserved and modest :-).

But it is true to say that whoever gets on it is really hard to get off. It's lively and more of a challenge to sail.

The board is without doubt faster across a range of conditions. Down wind it is a little faster but not as apparent as the upwind speed difference in planing conditions. Still more testing has to be done in displacement  conditions where performance is likely to be much the same as the existing hull. The interesting moment will come in marginal windspeeds when it is likely to be quicker to plane.

The Evo is proving structurally sound but more time needs to be spent with the centre board down so that the area around the box gets stressed.

The lightweight hull will stay in the UK until Christmas and then its off to warmer conditions. Arrangements are not finalised yet but the plan is for it to put in an appearance at the 2010 RS:X South American Championships in Montevideo in February [11-16] as well as to spend some time in Buzios with Ricardo 'Bimba' Santos and the crew who go there for some pre - season training.

Meanwhile the new two piece battens are being worked on. Early opinion says that they are heavier than the existing so its back to the workshop to see if we can come up with some useful modifications

Reach-4-The-Top
Rory Ramsden
COO
RS:X Class Association