[Public-List] Halyards in or out?

[Elyse Pastor]

Hello to all of you racers.
I read with interest the heated discussions if internal halyards should be 
allowed or not and I cannot refrain from writing my viewpoint on this.
1.) I think we all agree that the rules are the rules and everybody should 
play by the rules.
2.) If some people do want to change the rules, there is a process in place 
that must be followed, and depending on that process, rules are changed or 
not.
3.) We should have fun doing this?!
Having said that, I like to tell you the story of our first racing season 
which was 2008.
Lady Heron #297 was our first sailboat ever and my wife Elyse and I 
participated in about 45 races throughout the summer (handicap racing on 
Lake St-Louis, Montreal). We were the only A30, and because we where present 
at every race - guess what - we won first price in the white sail class (we 
have no spinnaker and our best placing was a second).
Those of you who are already bored, just stay with me for a little longer - 
I am getting to my point soon.
Winning the white sail class allowed us to race for the ever so popular Club 
Championship against the three other class winners (PHRF-I & II Fleet; 
Fireballs Fleet; Tanzer 22’s, Sharks, & PHRFIII Fleet).
Finally, the Club Championship was held in 4 Tanzer 22's, that were made 
available by generous club members (3 cruisers and one racer) – hence every 
boat was SIGNIFICANTLY different equipped with different genoas, state of 
main sail etc.
The race rules were that each class winner would race once on each Tanzer, 
for a total of 4 races.
And here comes my point.
No matter what boat Elyse and I raced – we came last. And no matter what 
boat our International Fireball racer Joe was racing, he won three out of 4 
races with one second place.
Looking back at our lousy performance (it was probably me as I was on the 
tiller) I guess the equipment did not have much to do with the outcome as 
Joe was the one who made the difference on the good boat and certainly on 
the bad ones.
Conclusion – the BEST RACER won the Club Championship and not the Boat.
Looking now at internal or external halyards, my suggestion would be - If 
one has internal halyards and wants to participate. Just let him/her. We do 
this for the fun and not for the money? And last time I checked, the 
Americas Cup was held in Spain and not in the Chesapeake Bay?
With best regards to all of you
Bruno
Lady Heron #297
PS: If you beat a gal/guy with internal halyards, you can always boast how 
good you are. If you loose against them - it must be the internal 
halyards....



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