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ChrisJ View Drop Down
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Joined: 07 May 04
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Posts: 337 		Post Options Post Options   Quote ChrisJ Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Topic: Enterprise
    Posted: 06 Sep 13 at 8:54am
GRP Ent's, before 20000 numbers, are well worth avoiding.
After that, any FRP / epoxy Ent will be as good and as fast as an equivalent condition wooden boat. Some wooden boats of your age will be (will have had to be) well looked after. Some might be tidied up to sell (which is much easier to do with a new coat of paint on a wooden boat than on ingrained dirt on an FRP boat).

Personally (ex Ent sailor, having had 4 different ones), even with a garage available, I would go with a good FRP rather than wooden. Don't spend all your money on the boat - a new cover, new jib / main sheets and a new set of sails makes all the difference to the look and feel of the boat.
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jeffers View Drop Down
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Posts: 3048 		Post Options Post Options   Quote jeffers Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 06 Sep 13 at 11:23am
We have a very old wooden ent at Hunts, 3764 which does well against much newer boats.

The fast guys do have wood though which if epoxied is almost at tough as plastic but would definitely benefit from being taken home during the winter and stored dry.

The 'newer' FRP boats are reputedly as good as an equivalent wooden boat I am told by the Enterprise gurus at Hunts (the Ent class admiral is a member).
Paul
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The Moo View Drop Down
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Posts: 809 		Post Options Post Options   Quote The Moo Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 08 Sep 13 at 7:43am
We have a couple who sail a 17k series composite hull with an old black top needlespar and new Edge Sails. They are light weight and fly in most conditions other than honking. Very difficult to touch them in a handicap race. Unfortunately the only other Ent at the Club which is FRP is not sailed that well, so difficult to gauge the boat's relative performance but it does look quick when all the anecdotal evidence suggests it shouldn't be
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Jamie600 View Drop Down
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Posts: 718 		Post Options Post Options   Quote Jamie600 Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 08 Sep 13 at 8:22pm
Thanks guys, good advice.
Looks like FRP it is
RS600 1001
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sawman View Drop Down
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Posts: 205 		Post Options Post Options   Quote sawman Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 09 Sep 13 at 1:22pm
Originally posted by ChrisJ

GRP Ent's, before 20000 numbers, are well worth avoiding.
 

This^^^

they were rubbish when new compared to wooden boats - by now I am surprised there are any seaworthy ones left!
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ChrisJ View Drop Down
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Posts: 337 		Post Options Post Options   Quote ChrisJ Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 09 Sep 13 at 4:58pm
Agreed: but that doesn't stop people trying to sell them! But I pity the poor beginner who buys one and takes it out in anything over about 10 knots...

The best thing for them (then! and now and I had one for a good few years) is to find a roundabout and to put flowers in them.
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transient View Drop Down
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Posts: 715 		Post Options Post Options   Quote transient Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 09 Sep 13 at 5:17pm
The club had 3 old GRP ents, some of the first made, in the region of 12000. They lasted years, being used by the sailing school. Loads of people gained their 1 & 2 sailing the things, they were finally retired to the graveyard in 2007. 1 has since been restored and is used by a family for pottering around and occasional racing, getting a couple of 2nd and 3rd positions in club races last year......It has no transom flaps or bailer apart from a bucket and it won't take 400lbs tension.

I would agree that they are not that well made by modern standards but they are/were not completely useless.
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Caveman View Drop Down
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Posts: 64 		Post Options Post Options   Quote Caveman Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 15 Oct 13 at 8:19pm
Unless I could store my boat under cover, I too would go for an FRP Enterprise. 

I used to have a Speed FRP Ent. Performance wise, I don't reckon there is a great deal to choose between  FRP and a wood boats of the same age /value from  reputable builders. 

All but the most recent FRP hulls are constructed in polyester FRP. They last quite well but are perhaps not quite as durable as, epoxy FRP hulls. Ent rigs are put under a lot of rig tension and  I have noticed stress cracking in the gelcoats of  some quite young examples. 
Enthusiasm>Skill
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ColPrice2002 View Drop Down
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Posts: 222 		Post Options Post Options   Quote ColPrice2002 Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 16 Oct 13 at 11:48am
Just a last thought...

"We do have an outbuilding that is garage-sized but has a normal door rather than a garage door, so would need converting ."

It's quite possible to fit an Enterprise through a standard door - sideways.

Use a couple of old blankets (or a couple of dollies - one inside, one outside) and a couiple of people each end.

HTH

CP09
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Jamie600 View Drop Down
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Posts: 718 		Post Options Post Options   Quote Jamie600 Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 17 Oct 13 at 9:26pm
Useful to know, although it would be a bit of a faff doing that every time we sail, plus it means moving a load of junk out of the garage first!
RS600 1001
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