Review: Bruce from Lakeland, Florida

My name is Bruce, I live in Lakeland, Florida, halfway between Tampa and Orlando.

Which Tiwal model do you have

I have the 3R racing model. The advantage of this model is that I have a lot more options to customize it. There are days with light wind, and there are days with winds gusting well over 20 knots. So, I am able to tweak the sail a little bit more with this, though the downside is that it is a little heavier. It takes a little longer to set up, but I am pretty glad I have it. I feel that it is a very stable craft.

Where do you sail?

I am about 45 minutes from Tampa Bay. So, if I want to sail in salt water, it is about a 45-minute drive, but I live in a place called Lakeland, and as you can guess from the name, we have a lot of large lakes. There is one not even a 10-minute drive from our house which has a boat ramp, making it really easy for entry and exit, and I probably sail there 99% of the time. It is a large lake, it is fairly shallow, and it is so close and convenient.

What was your experience before Tiwal?

When I was young, I lived in Connecticut. We had a summer house on the coast, and I started sailing probably when I was eight years old.

I would sail on friends’ boats; we always sailed together. When I was younger, we used to go bareboating in the Caribbean with a bunch of other guys. We chartered boats for a week and just sailed around. So I am used to sailing on larger boats, which had me a little concerned at first. I have seen Sunfishes and other easy-to-transport boats. I said, “That’s not sailing. That’s just floating on water with the wind helping a little bit.”

So I really want to be able to sail. I want to feel like I am in charge. I want to feel like I am making intelligent decisions, not just going whichever way the wind is going, and that is why I picked the Tiwal and the 3R, because I feel like I could tweak it. I am not racing anybody, but I just like the fact that I can tweak it just a little bit and say, “Yeah, you know what? I am smart enough to make the boat go a little better.” So, it is a learning experience because I have the options and the control, and it is a fun experience.

How do you use your Tiwal?

My typical sailing session is by myself. The lake that I sail at has a club there. My normal day, especially in the summertime when it gets very hot in the middle of the day, is to get up, set up the boat, sail for a couple of hours, tie it up on a dock that is right next to the club, go there to have a burger for lunch, refresh, go sail a little bit more, and then break it down in the afternoon when it is still way too hot.

So, that is the majority of my sailing. The other time is spent with my grandchildren, because I am a little older than your average sailor. When they come down to visit, we go out together, and they really love sailing with Grandpa. Every lake in Florida has alligators in it, and while you do not pay much attention to them, I really would rather not get up close and personal.

So far, whenever the sailing gets more interesting and I am at about a 45-degree heel, I decide it is time to slow down a little bit, as opposed to seeing how far I can push it. I have not capsized, and I do not mind not capsizing. That is something I will be happy to go another five years saying, “I never capsized in it,” and I will be happy.

How is it going so far?

I feel the freedom, because again, it is sailing. I have a lot of friends who like motorboats, or as I like to call them, “stink pots.” I understand they want the power, I see them all the time, and they have the “need for speed,” as they said in a movie.

But I just find freedom. I am out there, and it is just me, the lake, and the wind, and it is comforting. I feel like I am in control, but it is quiet. It is relaxed, and I can think a little bit. It is just a happy feeling. I feel like I could sail all day long. I can head upwind pretty well with the boat, and I am actually surprised.

Obviously, since I am sailing on a lake, I do not have a lot of current to worry about. With the daggerboard, it is usually all the way down, but unfortunately, sometimes when I am near the shore, I have to adjust it. I think the deepest the lakes get is 11 or 12 feet.

These are not manmade lakes; they are natural lakes, so they are shallow lakes. Sometimes, especially with reeds near the shore, I have to pull the daggerboard up a little bit. But if the daggerboard is all the way down, it points upwind pretty darn well. I am pretty impressed with it.

What characteristics surprised you?

Once it gets up to speed, it is very stable. Sometimes the wind just dies off on the lake, and it takes a moment for the wind to pick up to get back up to speed. But it is more stable than I thought it would be. It does not heel as much as I expected it to, considering I am floating on top of the water. With an inflatable hull, I am not going through the water, I am on top of it, but I really thought it would be a little less stable and more finicky with the wind.

I figured it would heel a little easier. But it is heavy enough that it feels more stable than I expected it to be. I guess that is the only thing that surprises me: the fact that it is an inflatable floating on top of the water, and yet it does not heel as much as I thought it would. Even with a 10 or 15 mile per hour gust, it does not really do much.

What is your best memory with your Tiwal?

The best is sailing with my grandchildren. My youngest, who was 13 at the time, came down and I let him sail; I just laid down in the front of the boat and said, “You’re in charge.” I just stretched out and let him sail, and he felt pretty comfortable doing that.

He has been taking sailing lessons back up north. He lives near Boston, so he has been sailing on the river there and taking some lessons. So he felt very comfortable with the boat. They race boats up there, and he said, “This boat feels like one of the racing boats. It feels fast.” Sailing with grandchildren is great.

Where would you dream to sail with your Tiwal?

I would love to come over to the Tiwal Cup. If I came over, I would want to rent a Tiwal while I was there. I would not want to have to travel and worry about all that. It would be so much fun to go there and spend a week doing that.