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| Martin Scott and Evolution. Martin not only built the boat but designed the sail as well. Although the sail is a bit smaller than that permitted by the IMCA it still measures in as legal. Note the full length battens are confined to the top of the sail. Well done Martin! |
Wednesday, December 23, 2015
The finish line
Today I received this photo of Martin Scott's Mistral Evolution. It's nice to see one of the two Mistrals which I've been posting about actually make it to the water! John Z: are you listening?!
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With her very broad stern sections you would think she would be mild mannered and easy to control planing on a run is a full sail breeze?
ReplyDeleteAlden, actually it's quite the reverse. The Mistral is a white knuckle ride down wind in a big breeze. The broad stern sections are misleading. Overall, the boat has VERY narrow waterlines. How narrow you ask? If left unattended at the dock, i.e. the second you let go, a Mistral will promptly flip. On a windy day it takes two people to successfully launch one if the skipper is to retain a shred of dignity. The beaminess on deck is there to claw back a bit of righting moment. But to sail the boat optimally one needs to keep her flat. This requires the skipper to constantly slide in and out on the roll tank decks to balance the boat. I tend to say that one race in a Mistral is more taxing than 5 or 6 in a Europe! So, to sum up, a Mistral is very easy to build (stitch and glue technique) but rather challenging to sail.
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