Fastest dinghy?

Originally posted by Wave Rider I guess RS 200/300 are a good option and the International Contender is a fairly cheap option isnt it??   are the 200/300 similar performance???

 

The 300 is way faster than the 200. the PY of the 300 is 1001 and in most conditions its a favourable PY once you've mastered the boat.

Bear in mind that although cheap contenders are plentiful, they are usually wood boats and tend to be older, heavier, less competitive boats. The 300 is a young design, the construction is bulletproof and unlike a wooden boat, you don't need to refinish it every couple of years and it's safe to keep at the dinghy park over winter. The sail on the 300 is also good for a lot longer than most and where else will you get a carbon fibre mast for this money.

I was looking to replace my Laser (145k sail no) with something younger & with an XD rig, which meant spending £2500 on a used boat. For £2200 I bought a 2 year old 300 in immaculate condition and am having a LOT more fun.

The contender is a cracking boat, but there's a lot of ex contender sailors in the 300 class, and there must be a reason for that ;)

I think there are two distinct different arguments going on here, that are getting confused.  One is the fastest possible speed, this will probably be achieved by something small with not a lot of sail in a big breeze on flat water (board maybe?).  The fastest speed with respect to wind speed or round the cans implys average conditions and will be achieved by something that is powered up lower down the wind range.  Hence the argument of a 420 doing well on handicap in 30+ knots of breeze.  Faster boats are designed to be powered up early on and simply depower gradually as windspeed increases, but there is a limit to this and that is when smaller, "underpowered" boats start to do better on handicap. 

Sorry we got diverted from the thread.

There is a lot of discussion about theoretical fastest boat and about relative handicaps.

Surely a practical challenge would settle this - for the time being. Something like the fast cat round the island race. This would give a wide variety of wind angles, tidal and wave conditions as well as probablly a variety of wind strengths.

Edited by Contender443

Contenders are good value for money - check out the used boats on the Class Association Website. Plenty to choose from of different prices.

You will always get more choice in the older established classes.

Originally posted by redback No doubt a Vortex sailor will chime in with a defence but in my limited experience they are very fast on a close reach in a 4 or 5 but otherwise rather a disappointment.  They don't point, don't go downwind very fast and work well in a limited wind range. The RS300 mentioned above,on the other hand, has a wide range of winds in which it performs well. Its fast upwind, extremely fast for a non trapeze boat on a reach but a demanding boat to sail especially in strong winds and I'm told even more so in waves.  Strangely it hasn't really caught on.

Sadly the 300 has had a difficult early few years, I think largely because LDC sold it to people with the now immortal words 'you don't need to hike very hard'. Consequently it was bought by a lot of people who wanted a fast boat that didn't require much effort. The 300 requires LOTS of effort, but the rewards are immense.

They're actually a very forgiving boat. Due to the shape of the wings, if you get heeled over the boat sits on the flat part of the wing and allows you time to sort things out. In a blow, they biggest challenges are making sure you keep the nose up as they will nosedive and the gybe is a big challenge because it's a long way from one side to the other - you have to gybe in a similar manner to a trapeze boat!

I've not sailed one on the sea yet, but I'm told the only problem is keeping the nose out of the waves.

For handicap racing, the handicap is actually quite favourable once you master the boat - the handicap seems to have taken into account the fact that you cannot just get in the boat and sail it fast like a Laser. You will learn more in a 300 than anything else. Once you are quick in one of these, you're quick in anything.