www.xcweather.co.uk  for those that don't know

It has all the info on Coleshill - not all the weather sites can boast that Scotty

I think 'XC Weather'is primarily designed for pilots of gliders and light aircraft, In my experience the windspeed and direction forecasts seem pretty accurate. 

Another gliding weather site worth looking at is 'Weatherjack'. Just type that into Google and click on 'Soaring Forecasts'.

I tend to flick through the forecasts until I find one that tells me what I want to hear.
Then on Sunday I rig my boat and go yotting whatever it's doing

theyr.net is also good

another website that has a few merlin spots (blithfield, salcombe etc) you can select.
no idea how to interpret the MASSIVE table you get though...

Lol, clearly it's winter and we don't have any sailing to talk about so we're recycling last winters threads.

Is it time to start Lark bashing again yet?

Remember a Lark is /was baed on the Mike Jackson Merlin Sugar Plum design, or its equivalent N12which is why it comes out at 13'

Thought a Lark was a March Hare, a fine N12 of the late 1960's.  Even then the 12 and Merlin classes could build boats without bendy metal foils... my major gripe with the Lark.  To be fair on the floppy hull thing the new Rondar and Ovi boats are much better built, and a bit longer, but strangely are not yet able to beat the floppy Parker boats on the water.

Once you have sailed development classes I have found it very hard to enjoy sailing boats that are badly built or fitted out... as so many One Designs are. 

Incidently, I think that somebody should survey the age of the top boats in each championship fleet, as I think that most people at the front of a OD fleet change their boats as often as those at the front in development/restricted classes.  This is the key to the expense argument, as the killer expense is depreciation.

I am not going to put words into Mikes mouth he's well capable of doin that but I', sure that the Lark was based upon Mikes basic design thesis from Tweedledee, Tweedledum, March Hare, (Nat 12's) thru Rakes Progress, Sugar Plum, March Hare and Supersticion (MR's) of a straight waterline fwd, rounded underwater sections fwd leading to flat planing surfaces amidships aft, Hardly surprisingly when designing to a brief by the original builder (Who employed patrick Kelly? Another Ranelagh sailor anyway.) he employed those principles. If the Lark is so bad why are there so many? Of course it has its faults. I would however agree with the comment about boats that do not work!

I organised the first RYA team racing final in 197?. I chose to sail it in Larks at Frensham Pond S C. It blew half a gale and the Larks performed superbly.

Re weather forecasts, gliding is even more dependant on the weather than sailing and Weatherjack has been a boon for many seasons. Nowadays many glider pilots do their own forecasts using soundings and other information from the Internet.

"Weather" Jack looks like a salty sea dog himself, are you sure he doesn't sail a merlin?