RS aero

Those capsize vids (and others) with full narrative explanations and tips are all posted on the Class Forum here 

Edited by Peter Barton - 19 Nov 14 at 10:06pm

So there you have it….35 pages of relatively uninformed opinion and vested interest against a smattering of triers and buyers.

Conclusion?

RS Aero….built and marketed by the devil incarnate, designed to confuse, disappoint, and drown.

D Zero..on the other hand…designed by a Luvvie, built and marketed by the sailing equivalents of the Archangel Gabriel, and just the scent picked up from the hallowed correspondents of these pages mean it must undoubtedly be pure sailing heaven.

Go get a life keyboard warriors…your heartfelt opinions aren’t having the impact here that you hoped they might (apart from on each other). Venture yonder, gird your chosen steeds and promote your cause with action and pureness of heart. And someday, the Grail might be yours. Good Knights, its time to sheath those Excaliburs that are your keyboards. Go forth and multiply!

This bloke has written a blog on capsizing the Aero

http://propercourse.blogspot.co.uk/2014/11/rs-aero-capsize-recovery.html

As I was warned by one of the instructors, it was not easy for a heavy person like me to get in over the side of the boat. This pre-production boat did not have grab rails so the only thing to grab was the hiking strap and every time I tried to pull my weight into the boat using that the boat capsized again on top of me. I tried and failed three times. Please note that I weigh 190lbs but have never had this problem before with Lasers or Sunfish. As I was swimming around the boat to the daggerboard one time I momentarily lost contact with the boat and it started being blown downwind away from me. The boat was on it side and the boom was high in the air so the sail was helping to push it downwind too. I think the only thing that saved me was that the masthead float was acting like a sea anchor and by swimming hard I managed to catch the float and then work my way down the mast to the boat itself. Without that float I don't think I would ever have been able to catch the boat, and this was only in lightish winds. Goodness knows how fast the boat would sail away on its own in 20 knots. I guess this is one of the consequences of the boat being so light.

So, he capsized  the boat to windward trying to get in over the side.    Now, with the hull in the air ( and the sail) and the mast lying on the water to windward, the boat easily blows away from you if you let go of it.   In this position, even without a mast head float ( which he had) it is very unlikely that the mast will sink since the leverage of the hull on it's side will prevent that happening.

In my opinion, this boat needs to be made to turtle; and turtle really fast.   Or you need to wear a surf board leach.

Not a lot of wind in that second vid, yet his 60kg took an age to pull it upright, and the board is far too high for me to want to pull myself up onto it.

Not quite true. if you get hold of the mainsheet even big lads can get over the side. Over 90kg and the stern is the easiest, but then again stern is the easiest in the Supernova. We did this test specifically and in some ways its easier than plenty of existing boats because its easier to move into a position to the wind. There is a good description of pretty straightforward steps to accompany the videos on the Facebook page :-