RS aero

Originally posted by Rupert I think KW was being ironic at that point - the "dramatic rescue"

I think KW was being ironic at that point - the "dramatic rescue" thing being used in every story of capsized dinghies from Daily Mail to RNLI magazine when someone has got a little cold and tired and been picked up by the safety boat which has been waiting around for that exact eventuality. But that isn't very dramatic or much of a rescue, so makes for a poor tale.

Unless you have a rescue boat securing the nose, I found going in over the back in the 100 just as impossible for the very reason MM highlights, as soon as you weight one side or the other of the stern it bears off and capsizes .
I didn't get to capsize the Aero, was going to give it a go when we get our demo, but neither did I capsize the zero either which has equal issue in my mind because of the lack of grabby bits, but it didn't stop me considering either of them, only the Yardstick decision put paid to that.
But to be fair to RS they were the only ones that gave me a pre sail instructional briefing on how to get back in before I went out, which I immediately forgot since it wasn't that breezy at that point, but went something along the lines of making sure you launched yourself into the middle of the boat rather than hanging on the side once your up there, I guess I'd have had to employ the technique I learned in the 100 of getting the rig to windward pinned down by the wind then dive into the middle as the wind lifted it up.

On a positive note I hadn't seen This it's a cool way to check the boat out..

Edited by iGRF - 26 Nov 14 at 9:35am

Shame this isn't still the RSpeculation thread, after all that is all it is, I heard on the grapevine some guy needed to be taken ashore after spending 10 minutes fighting a capsized Aero and hypothermia... But please, that story could be utter b**locks or at the very least rather embellished, missing maybe a gear failure aspect or any other number of variables which would exonerate the boat's design.

Given this is the second dinghy launched with this criticism in the last decade, I'd be asking questions about why more sailors don't seemingly know about Plan B - going over the transom. I was doing that in my Oppy in heavy wind in the 80's- genuinely, is this method no longer on an RYA syllabus or something- to me it's second nature... If fingers need pointing somewhere, then it's at the training and capsize drills, not RS.

Originally posted by craiggo I really don't think its an issue. Jimbo I do wonder if you really mean to keep putting the Aero down as a result of having your fingers burnt on the 100 or whether you think in some way your opinion on the matter is the gospel on this boat and that you feel aggrieved that more people aren't siding with you. From my point of view, how the boat recovers from a capsize is of little interest as I don't intend to be in that position. Boats blowing away from people is nothing new, after all most catamarans can go at a fair old lick on their sides but people still buy and sail them. My own 700 is an arse to right from a capsize but I judge and select my boats based on how they sail and not on what they do when it goes wrong. I recently was reminded of how much water a Graduate takes onboard in a capsize, and it took me a lap of a race to empty it. Did this put me off? No, it just makes me want to sort my big wind boat handling out so that I dont do it again. Please can we stop the Aero bashing, its getting boring!