RS500 ...

Originally posted by turnturtle What I don't get it that it's cheaper than the 200- basically because it's not as good perhaps? Or cynical me, are they just undermining the strong 2nd hand market for the 200?

Different Market....

RS500 - Easy to sail transitional single trapeze assym boat.... emphasis on fun as well as racing and made from glass fibre so it has enough rigidity without weighing a ton....

RS200 - tippy(er) fast non trapeze assy boat...  emphasis clearly on racing.

I'm looking forward to having a look see on Saturday.

Ian

Aren't there enough versions of the topaz already? I count 8 from topper's site

I had a look at it at the boat show, looks a decent
enough bit of kit, much better than the vago. Be
interesting to see how it sails against the V3000
though.

Edited by phantom_iv

Originally posted by No. 5 I'm sure someone must have said this before but...

Yup, thats pretty much been the jist of this whole thread... 

I'm not sure if any of the boats were bought new, however some of them are worth higher than the price of RS500 new. I can't speak for other unis but I'm sure you'll find that students who are really interested in sailing will already know what direction they are going in the sport, no matter what budget they are on. There are really good boats out there which cater for the student market and offer high performance sailing. However thinking about it, our Uni concentrates on Fireflys, Laser 2000s and Omegas. The RS 500 might sit well within the student fleets which our uni already has as it would be a step forward as the 500 looks more responsive than the boats we already have and would introduce sailors to trapezing etc. There are a lot of students who are learning to sail, so the 500 may not appeal to the more experienced sailors but would be ideal for the students learning to sail moving on from the boats they are currently sailing. Given the choice between racing fireflys or RS500s, I think the majority would sway in the direction of the 500.