RS500 ...

Despite all the erudite discussions of marketing, economics etc, we seem to be missing a point here. Do we want our sport to be run by businesses as a market for their products, or by sailors for the benefit of sailors? SMOD class associations are almost all driven by the manufacturer concerned, and guess what happens when the sales figures of a particular boat slow, or the constant drive for growth and "progress" mean a boat gets replaced by something new? Can't guess? Ask the Iso class! Or the RS300 class. Or the Boss class. Or...

A good boat is a good boat, whenever it was designed. Just cos it doesn't have a jazzy marketing campaign, seethrough sails and an overweight carbon mast doesn't make it rubbish. Has damp freddie ever sailed a 505 or FD? Both 50-year old designs, but two of the most exciting and challenging classes you could name. The only real progress in dinghy performance made in the last 40 years has been in downwind speed. An FD is still blisteringly fast upwind, especially in big wind and waves. The 5oh is a great boat. Both FD and 5oh have the benefit of a worldwide following, a class structure that is totally independent of any commercial organisation, and many years of development by the greatest dinghy sailors ever. Gap in the market? Where?

The UK dinghy sailing "market", like the whole UK economy, is based on consumer credit, and that bubble will burst, probably sooner rather than later. When it does, RS, Topper, Laser et al may well find themselves with a HUGE problem. No sympathy, it will be entirely of their own making.

What do you base that on (other than UK)? In the USA, as an example, the bastion of consumer choice, dinghy sailing appears to be dying on its feet.

I'm not arguing the opposite either, just questioning your basis for that statement.

There is, of course, a constant flow of people through sailing, but I think the great majority of boats are bought by people already in the sport. Suppose you start at 10, stop at 50 and buy a boat every 5 years. That is 8 over the course of your sailing career. Add up the number of boats I've bought over the years and, what do you know, it's 8 (and I hope I haven't finished yet). I don't think I'm extreme in that regard.

Hence most raceboat SMOD manufacturers are largely selling to people already within the sport.

A couple of thoughts:

a) If clubs were to ban new designs and force us into 'preferred' classes, would we not all still be sailing clinker built things from yesteryear that weigh a ton, barely move, flood/sink and cost a fortune. 

b) I think that one of the reasons new 'one designs' appear to fail after a few years is that they do not/ can not adapt.  They therefore date quickly and (unless well developed prior to launch) keep their foibles.  Fireballs, 505s etc change over time and so could be considered more modern than the ISO, L4000 etc.

So, I've had an idea...

How about a new rule based class.  I've not thought too much about the exact type of rule, but something like the N12/I14 rules but for ISO/L4000 type boats (carbon free hulls, single wire, asymmetric).  Think F18 but for dinghies.  This allows class racing and still allows for freedom of expression/tailoring of design to physique/homebuilders etc...

Hi all

Yet another lively topic on the Yachts and Yachting Online forum!

A little plea to all of our posters - could you declare ALL commercial interests you may have in products or rival products when commenting in discussions like this. A huge number of people are reading these threads and should be made aware of any vested interests the writer may have.

Cheers, Mark