| A fleet of around 10 FX Ones at Datchet (reservoir between Heathrow airport and Windsor castle) races year round, usually half that number on the water. These are very fast and can match larger cats under most conditions up to force 5. It is a superb light to medium wind craft. They are all sailed in single handed mode, tunable main and mast adjusted for windstrength, and spinnaker launched from front rigid tube. Above F5 the other (twin sailed) cats take over. The FX One becomes challenging in anything over a F5-6, with capsizes a race loser, but astonishingly quick downwind spinnaker runs. Turning the bottom corner focusses the mind, and with only two hands to maintain course, handle mainsheet and dowse spinnaker, this is an area where practice pays (and other craft tend to avoid!). Single continuous line spinnaker launch and retrieval systems are essential. Unlike virtually all other cats, tacking is very easy, just turn the rudders gently and it zooms round on enormous daggerboards just like a dinghy. |
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