Dart 15 Forums

I had my first experience of sailing in DX mode yesterday on home waters at Carsington in a spot of club racing up against my compatriot and DX 'Godfather', Ray, in a brisk F4 with some tricky gusts. Suffice to say I was hooked The power delivery was so smooth, no hint of burying the bows any more than normal and the boat seemed to handle the extra power without any problem at all. It was a real blast and I am still grinning with the extra speed - I do like a bit of speed! I think the cut of the sail is just about perfect, (I was using standard jib in sport mode), the boat tacked in a flash and sailed superbly on all points. It also drew a few inquisitive glances, interest and questions from others including (notably) a good few youngsters who were out on the water. Surely this has got to be a way of preserving and furthering the appeal of such a wonderful class. To sum up, the DX, for me, is a real winner

Sounds good George. Is the DX rig available to buy yet, or is it still in development/testing?
You're right, a modern sail would be a good way of adding a new lease of life to an already great little boat.

The DX Main Sail and Jib is available for purchase through Steve Sawford as of 1st September.

IMPORTANT TO NOTE:- DX Sail & Jib is out of class and cannot be used in competition.

Had my second outing in DX mode (with standard jib sailing sport) on Sunday on the occasion of the club's annual charity regatta. Wind was at least F4 with a few spots well in excess of that. Suffice to say for approx. half an hour the wind was strong enough to give white water across the whole lake with 2 foot high waves - big for a pond. Again, I am still grinning and it's now Wed. afternoon. I absolutely flew round the course and a fellow club member in his A class remarked later that he couldn't keep up with me - he normally flies past as if I'm standing still. I think he was quite taken aback. So how did I cope Quite simply, no problem whatsoever. The course had 3 jybe marks and I could hardly wait for the next lap to do it all again - it was so much fun. Upwind on the wire was a breeze (no pun intended) and the boat seemed to point as high as normal, the reaches were pretty fast and furious with spray everywhere and downwind, I literally flew -all in complete control with the exception of one moment when I lost my footing upwind and, with legs dangling in the water, was catapulted back to a trapezing position as a gust hit and the windward hull took off - brilliant! Were it not for the fact that I was completely knackered after two races, I'd still be out there! Must work on my physical stamina for this DX lark. I was again bombarded with interest on the water and back on shore from other sailors, both mono and multi. Ray - I think you've got a hit on your hands! More reports to follow.
"Sail Fast - Live Slow"

Sounds like your "fly by wire" tagline is becoming very appropriate - you'll be pulling off body-drags next...

George Love wrote: Must work on my physical stamina for this DX lark.
"Sail Fast - Live Slow"

Good idea George - cheaper on the shirts too!

Robert, point of order.

Must point out that the shirts supplied by our new illustrious stylist in the "Rag Trade" are the same price whether small / medium / large etc therefore tchnically speaking you get more for your money if you order XL etc

Owmuch!

Yes but if George does more DX sailing then the ones he's already bought might just fit Er; sorry George it was meant to be a private joke...

NB. It's a pity we didn't get some time at the AGM to hear about the DX project

Thought I'd just bump this thread back up with a post Ray put on another thread about some DX findings from the other day:

[quote="ray.gall"]I did compete in the Carsington annual handicap Boxing Day Pursuit Race sailing in DX Sport format against Robin Newbold sailing Una & George Love sailing Standard Sprint Sport and the rest of the Carsington monohull & multihull fleet.

We had 10 - 12 mph breeze and on the staggered start DX gave 4 minutes to Robin and 2 minutes to George (time rounded to the nearest minute by RO), at the end of exactly ane hour of racing DX had passed Standard Sprint Sport and lost to Una rig by 12 seconds.

Overall results
1st Una Rig
2nd F18 2 seconds behind leader
3rd Laser 3000 6 seconds behind leader
4th DX 12 seconds behind leader
5th Sprint Sport 65 seconds behind leader[/quote]

So it shows at the moment, the DX handicap is a bit high(?) at PY 869 in that the boat is too fast, maybe by a minute over an hour, so may need to come down to around 860.

Also, with the DX sails, Ray was over 3 minutes faster than George, (by Ray's own admission, George beats him about 4 out of 5 races). So with a quick helm, it will probably have up to 4-5 minutes over an hour over the Sprint 15 sport mode, and 6-7 minutes over una-rig mode.

It was good top see the DX have a clear overall speed increase on all points of sail. It caught me out on Saturday when I was focusing on staying ahead of George, until I looked round to see Ray fly past him and pull out a sizable lead.

Thought I'd just post a few of my own observations from the Boxing Day race.
1. Interesting that, out of around 30 boats taking part, the four cats finished in the top five.
2. It was VERY close at the finish, certainly for the top four.
3. I did not sail very well (weak excuse!), particularly in the second half, as in the first half I had made up almost a minute on Robin, then made two crucial mistakes from which I never recovered. Shows that the handicap system is about right as I know I have to sail really well to beat Robin in normal competition
4. Both Robin and Ray sailed superbly well and made few, if any, mistakes.
5. Ray's speed on all points of sailing was impressive and his pointing ability upwind was frightening! He came past me at the start of the last beat and was 4-5 degress higher. I know my own boat is pretty well set up. At the CSC Winter TT where I sailed in Sport, I was at least, pointing as high as many of the una-rigs. The same was true at Grafham finale.

So, my conclusions : The DX is a wicked piece of kit , current PY may be a bit on the high side but that will come out in the wash over time. We ought to set up a few more pursuits of this ilk in different wind conditions -it was great fun and requires a different mental focus which is good practice for normal fleet racing.
And Lastly, the CSC management ought to be earwigged for not having any prizes! (hope they read this). Robin deserved at least a bottle of merriment for holding off all comers right to the end - well sailed that man!

Progress report and just for the record I am racing DX at Carsington with kind permission from my multihul colleagues & CSC Sailing Committee on the understanding that my position in the fleet is scrubbed at the end of the series or single race event, basically I don't get podium positions but do get what I require which is essentially, race/time data against other multihuls that is sent to the RYA to produce (hopefully) in 2010 a PY handicap for DX Sport.

I am sailing DX in competition off the old Dart Sting handicap of 1.23 as we use ISAF/SCHRS for our club racing most of the time. Occasionally like the Boxing Day Persuit we are required to use PY and for DX Sport I am sailing off a PY of 859.

My thanks to all my Carsington Sprint 15 chums for their continued support as each Sunday I sail against them in DX Sport mode without exception and in all weather conditions, a point to note here is that the DX Sport is no harder to sail in extreme conditions than Standard Sprint Sport mode a fact to which George / Robin and the rest of the multihul fleet will confirm.

In all to date I have sailed in over 25 races with the DX Sport coming out on top against Sprint 15 Una/Sport the majority of times, I'm sure that most Sprint 15 helms who know Tom & myself would recognise that in standard format I am unable to compete head to head with Tom (its that son / dad thing) however when I have raced Tom sailing Standard Sprint Sport and myself sailing DX Sport I have managed to roll back the years and win on LINE HONOURS however when we switch boats Tom has his sweet revenge all to quickly by the first windward mark it is all over, I just watch him sail over the horizon.

I have learned over the course of the last twelve months (testing & racing) to sail DX slightly differently and alter the rig set up so that it now optimises the square top sail and larger non furling jib, this will inevitably continue to lower my handicap expectation as I continue to race DX against my fellow Sprint 15ers throughout 2010, I really appreciate their support and understanding, cheers guys

In short and clearly the DX Sport is more efficient

The handicap will in due course be lower than the ISAF / PY mentioned

The DX Sport is able to be sailed in all conditions

YaHoo!

Hi All,

I think the DX is an excellent developement (although I haven't tried it yet).

I am very interested in getting a set of the sails and using them but not necessarily every time I go out (depending upon conditions).

Does there need to be a rigging change for the DX jib to fit the boat??

Cheers and merry crimbo from the north of england.

The DX Main Sail requires no additional rigging.

The DX Jib will require additional rigging and removal of some standard parts.

Removal:- Top furling swivel and bottom furling drum as well as standard forestay / jib halyard

New Parts:- Longer forestay / jib halyard

New parts and fitting instructions are available from Steve Sawford.

Please note that the DX is out of class and cannot be used in competition, enjoy the DX experience, I know you will

Any queries please give me a call

YaHoo!

Hi mr magoo,
Have you tried the Hurricane square top ?
Cheers & Happy New Year to all
Grubguru

Hi Ray,

Thanks for the info. I will save up my pennies and treat myself to a DX main to start with.

Hi Frank,

No I haven't tried the square top on the H5.9 (I am terrified enough of it as it is!!!!)