Dinghy hull weights

Blazes have been in epoxy for over a decade now - there is no reason therefore why a 10 year old boat should still not be on standard weight – every hull is weighted and correctors added to bring up to standard weight. It might be of interest to some to know that for more than half the life of the Blaze class now epoxy has been used.  They have always been fully foamed in terms of construction as well  in both polyester and epoxy and don't generally 'go soft' with time,   Polyester boats, and this includes earlier Blazes can put on weight through moisture take-up. 

But not all will have done so if they are regularly washed out with fresh water and thoroughly dried over a few weeks (try a boiler house - it really does work !!) .  The best polyester boats can still be around standard weight today - and the nationals results in recent years do include polyester examples right to the very top.  Are there a few aging polyester clunkers' around ? - almost certainly just as there are in most classes.  Some could be 'bought back' with a bit of  TLC and can be become a very cost-effective entry boat for those prepared to put in some effort.

Not used for the Blaze at any point but 'vinyl-ester' has some of the characteristics of epoxy and is superior to polyester.  As with epoxy it does not effectively take-up moisture over time and is a good compromise for some classes.  I'm told, though don't know this for certain, that the RS 400 (and possibly 200) have more recently switched from polyester to vinyl-ester for these good reasons amongst others.   Closer to home Icon was originally made in vinyl-ester but the new Rondar version/derivative of that boat will apparently be in epoxy.  The new boat is primarily intended for the N.American market and the use of epoxy, while not strictly technically needed, does position it as more of a premium product there.  

Edited by Cirrus - 24 Aug 16 at 4:13pm

Don't make the assumption that all members of a class - even a SMOD - will be the same weight...

How does the actual weight of a modern Blaze compare with say a 10 yr old one?

Edited by transient - 24 Aug 16 at 10:38am

I don't suppose you ever weighed a Spice?

No opportunity - but guess it cannot possibly lighter than a Buzz ...   (And btw no we are not about to actually publish the weights spreadsheet !)   

The official Blaze min weight is 72kg - This includes centreboard, wing system, all lines and corrector weights (where required) etc but this excludes rudder assembly and rig.  Lose all the 'bits & pieces' and a bare hull ready for fitout was approx 51-53kg.  Could we have made them lighter ?  Sure - but there are always implications.

All up sailing weight ?  Not routinely measured but it can't be much more than 80/82kg... and these are REAL weights btw.  When the boat was built by Cirrus we weighted a range of other classes at one stage to really see what was what  - many with claimed lower weights ... well you have to don't you and so could a few on this forum if they really wanted to know ...     



Edited by Cirrus - 23 Aug 16 at 6:36pm