Father/Son Dinghy?

Mister Nick, at 120kg you and your Dad are bang on the profile of 3000 sailors. Check out our website (seee below) and arrange a demo sail before you buy anything else.

If you happen to be able to get to Grafham this weekend it's our Nationals and you could get the full low-down there, and probably a demo as well if you give a bit of notice.

Hector fails to say that he's a brilliant hlemsman who would do well in any class. Most father/son combos would get blown into the weeds in the 29er class by loads of highly-coached juniors who largely dominate the class. The standard in the 3000 class is appreciably lower, and people are very friendly and helpful, without the retinue of non-sailing parents who cater for every new-sail whim of their offspring.

I'm quite a bit (ahem) over 40, and sail a 29er with my 16 and 18 yr old daughters. I weigh over 75Kg, and girls are approx 55 and 60 kg. We're very competitive  (3rd and 4th at two recent inlands) - winning some races.

The youth thing is just the result of the RYA /ISAF boat selection, together with the fact it's just so desireable to youths! There are quite a few parent / sibling  or both over 30 combos but only a few do major events.

I'd always agree re 'try one' - for any boat. But don't be put off the 29er if you find it challenging on first sail - if it was easy, it would soon get boring. For instance, wo teens had a try in mine a few weeks ago - they managed ok for a while, but once they'd capsized a few times and got tired, they then capsized about 20 times in 30 minutes. They were back for more a week later and bought one. Last time they sailed, just one capsize - and grins!

And yes, its a 'stand up' in boat. Also ideally, you should helm - dad on wire.

By all means try a 4000 as well - no comparison in my mind.

And the second hand value of decent 29ers just never drops so tell your dad he won't lose any money! I actually got more than I paid for bothe 29ers I've previously bought then sold! And finally, the through flow of youths means there's always lots of good cheap secondhand sails and so on. I recently got a set of sails used 4 times and absolutely immaculate, for less than half retail.