Laser Pico

yer stickthin tell your bro to get a topper!!  then he can go racing with kids his own age!!

If only the RYA hadn't gone topper mad.  All those lovely boat designs out there and england's early teens are stuck sailing tupperware ............. in order to get piles of training and a huge race circuit.

Meanwhile most of Europe's youth are sailing europes, laser 4.7s and splashes.  I believe the Aussies put their youngsters in 13ft skiffs, which sounds much more fun - but they do have warmer water.

Seriously, a race tuned topper is probably a decent boat - but do buy one that has been fixed for racing (centre main, new sail, proper ratios on the ropes etc etc).  There are a lot of soggy old tubs around.

I still think a Pico is more adaptable and more fun.  But if you want to race, you won't find many others to race against - plus toppers have about the same handicap and go faster in light winds - so they nearly always win. 

Lol im afraid for what he wants, you won't be able to convince me that a Topper isnt a good option either NickA !!!

But to actually get the boat in a tuned and fast state you need to keep the boat up to date with the race rig as the extra purchase etc can make the boat a hell of a lot easier in a blow and knowing that if you feel over powered, and cannot hike any further, you can yank on some more cunningham, kicker or outhall while you are planing along can make you feel less like you are going to fall in!

Also i think your bro might find that when he gets better he probably will want to do some class racing. As racing against boats which you can only race on PY can get a bit dull at times and the Topper circuit is Very friendly and welcomes in anyone and bugger me they have a lot of events going on (national, international and regional).

Harry i am still trying to get to Rutland this weekend  proving difficult

I think most of the frustrations about the Rya come from sailors who are older, or just finishing with the junior boats, when the kids sail them they couldn't care less on the whole untill their older.- practice in any boat is good practice!

NickA I think youre probably right that i'll be sailing a laser or a 29er in 2 years, but for the time being i'm taking advantage if the great topper circuit and RYA zone squad coaching, next year maybe a year out from the RYA route in a rs200 looks on the cards.

Looked for you Waverider, shame you couldn't make it was a great event, nice water, light winds sat., strong on sun., 140ish boats, well organised etc.!