Hi all
 
Following the fab nationals we had at Exe SC, i thought it might be a good idea to establish an open Q&A - there was a noticeably clean break in the results between the gold and silver fleets that we need to start mixing up a bit!
 
So, we will try and answer any questions posed here on things like:
Boat set-up
Rig settings 
Boat handling
Starting
Sailing in waves
Gybes
Downwind speed 
or anything else 
 
So please ask away 

sailing in waves - discuss...

My first question: What are the gold and silver fleets?

Waves
Our new Nat Champ hopefully will be along shortly to answer that properly (once he finds his password) but in the meantime suggested this link, even tho its about Lasers.
 
My pond sailors two-pennyworth, goes along the lines of:
Hike harder than I manage nowadays
Sit back further and move the shoulders back on a steep one. (Don't forget you can adjust the (front) toestraps)
Leave a bit of power in the bottom of the sail even if the rest is flat as it will go
Don't pinch, you just go sideways, better to ease sheets a couple of feet and foot off a bit 
Ease and foot off even more when you slam into one - and don't let a slam put you off your stride, they were not always possible to dodge
Don't be afraid to steer
Pick your moment to tack, easing sheet in anticipation, then sheeting in to accelerate the spin (then ease at head to wind or you will fall in!) 
 
Remember at the ww mark that the kite will be full of water and take lots more effort to hoist 
 

Gold/Silver
 Its a tried and tested RS thing in the 200s and 400s that we tried at Exe for the first time.
 
The split is a bit arbitrary, but for Exe was effectively circuit-proven old-lags in Gold and others in Silver. With the exception of a retirement on Sunday thru injury, all the Golds finished in front of all the Silvers, which is rarely the case if you look at the 200 Nats results for example.
 
The objective is to give those in the mid-fleet something to race for too. At my first R200 event (60-odd boats), it was the days of Fat-Face sponsorship and I won �40 of FF vouchers for being 2nd on the Bronze fleet. 
 
Ultimately, we all want the class to thrive, provide great racing for everyone and definitely not put people off because they cannot keep up wth Mr Dickson (I can't) 
 
The Gold-Silver split also provided the basis of the 'buddy' system, which did not take off as much as it might on its first outing, but the idea there too is to share the knowledge and provide encouragement and support

Waves - downwind
 
Ease the kicker and cunningham all the way
Keep the plate all the way down. If it's coming up at speed, tie off the downhaul in the short term, take the plate out and tighten the rubber-tube-brake in the long term 
 
Keep the boat pointing downhill
Don't be afraid to move fore and aft
Don't 'pump' the kite sheet, it does not help in my experience
Point up and build some speed and apparent wind before taking waves lower 
 
When you lose a wave and the boat slows, the apparent wind shifts aft, so you may need to ease the sheet a bit, even if you also luff up
 
It's faster in clean waves than it is in another boats wake 
 
Gybe on the way down a wave, not up 

At the age of 51 this was my first National championship,first time sailing 100 on sea, come to think of it have not sailed on sea since about 1985 !
Robert at Fifteen years young  has done 2 mirror nationals, rs 200 and 29er worlds and nationals as crew but has never sailed his 100 at sea. so we were quite happy to be in silver fleet and were on a steep learning curve.
The split between the fleets was very good and it was very close between the four top silver boats, before the last day with one discard applied Stewart and Mostyn on 66 points me on 71 and Robert (who I thought was out of it) on 80.
we had four good races on sunday Robert Scoring 47 Mostyn 49 Me 54 Stewart 61 I was Quite confident I had done enough to beat Robert and Stewart but did not consider 2nd discard (never much good at maths) Robert having a maximum 29 to lose pipped Mostyn by one point to take silver. 6 points ahead of me and 9 from Stewart.
 The whole fleet is a great bunch everyone very helpful and willing to give advice and assistance to get the most from your boat and would recommend anyone to attend these events

Totally agree with John's post - the gold/silver split worked really well and actually increased the competition because you wanted to beat the gold fleet members! Racing was really close and racing in a 29 boat fleet was way more fun the 15 B14's I used to race...much learnt, much laughed about (just as much broken self too) and looking forward to next year!
 
Must have done something right as got back to Netley and found out the fleet had doubled in size and almost at the 10 boat barrier - eeeek!