OK's

Well, I finally tried one and loved it! Very smooth on the plane compared to the Solo in a F4, much more work , but responsive and rewarding- see why they got such a good write up in Y+Y. The boom isn't a problem (my big concern due to a back problem) and it just felt right. All I need to do now is find one! Good to see Aardvark are due to build them too.

The late 70's? Ah, I was in my prime!

At least nobody has mentioned the height of the boom yet.. another scare story introduced by the enemies of OK's... my head was always flat on the top like that, honest

OK sailors changing to Lasers?? Not in my experience anyway.

And there's absolutely no need to spend £4k for a race spec OK!  Indeed, you might actually find it hard to spend that much.  Perfectly good secondhand boats go for half that, although I admit there isn't much on the web site at the moment.

I believe that the current National Champ borrowed a boat which was by no means new, although it had a carbon rig and a good North sail.  I am guessing from the sail number that it was 15 years old or so.

Best of all though, if you buy an OK you get a real quality boat, challenging to sail yet incredibly rewarding.  There is a very competitive national racing scene - there's a good reason why Nick Craig and Jim Hunt have sailed the boat to World Championship wins recently!

If you can find a good quality OK for sale my advice is to buy it.. you won't regret it.  In fact, if you are still looking, I may be tempted to sell you mine.. I could do with a new'un!

Hehehe. Adam Savage is my hero and Jamie Hyneman my guru!

Hard work as I recall, most of the OK sailors at my club changed to Lasers as soon as they could because it was much less painful in a blow!