The RS100 Owners Thread

The RS100 had nothing to race against unless there just happened to be an existing fleet of 200s and/or 400s.  Plus a number of us bought them and sailed them at small inland venues, or places without dedicated W/L racing.  Sure, you could say that was naive, I chalk it up to experience.  Anyway not an issue for the D-Zero, it just slots right in to a typical handicap fleet.  No more advantageous than any other unarig really - it's what the Rooster 8.1 could be with a hull & rig upgrade ;-)

Both classes are similar only in one respect: amateur sailors are giving them a chance, a chance that maybe the D-One was not afforded.   I think there are 35+ confirmed orders (more deposits) for the UK.  That seems like good initial take up, I hope that's sustainable rather than the boom / bust model of the 100.

Other than that, I think the 100 was more hype, the D-Zero more reality- I don't really get a vibe there's much 'D-Zero hype', it's just a 'nice boat' that is reflected in the reportage.    This is possibly a realisation of a maturity in the marketplace that doesn't think of asymmetric sailing as some panacea for boring boats.  The 90's marketing bull finally wearing off?  The asymmetric dinghies which are good have survived, the rest are dead or dying.  A bit like foiling.  No one wants a 600FF, even the A-Class boys are in meltdown.  If you want to foil, get a moth.  It's niche, but it's right for the market space.

Yes, that was amusing when it was launched, literally weeks after the PY debacle when the RYA gave the boat one PY, without any knowledge of which sail had been used for the 3 results it based its decision on.

I know of Ian's report, I posted it to a blog run about the class several years ago, but worth pointing out RS paint a slightly different story about the early stages of development, and there were other folks who were already in discussion- a hiking 700 (B14 for 1 person) was the basis of one such conversation iirc.  

Anyway, one thing's for sure... there were a couple of different size sails in the development programme and on the prototype boats we sailed- the aim at the time was trying to work out the optimum for the production boat.  I sailed the yellow one.  It seemed pretty sweet tbh- I reckon that was about 8.5-9.0m.  

I remember thinking two rigs was a bit bold, but I disagreed with those who thought it would lead to a still born class.  On reflection, they were right and numbers at events only have to be looked at for confirmation that the class has pretty much stalled in terms of new boat sales- especially in the 10.2 iteration.  15 on Apolloduck right now... that's not healthy is it?   

As Paul points out, the Laser had sold what, 100,000 units globally before the M rig / Radial Rig came out.   Even then Laser were very clear to manage it as very much a separate class, which to be fair, RS are emulating with the 3 Aero Classes, so I hope we don't see history repeat itself.  It would be interesting to know the split between 5, 7 and 9 rigs that have been pre-ordered.  My gut instinct would tell me that the 5 and 7 will ultimately become the popular choice for that platform.

Remember the 8.1 isn't an official Laser rig though (it is nice on light winds Wednesday night racing though... I have 1 for sale if anyone is interested).....