RS300 vs Blaze

  It's the Blaze for me. It has everything you need from a racing singlehander. 

   -  It's comfortable in all winds.

   -  The build quality is amazing with excellent support from topper.

   -  Easy to sail, allowing better one design racing.

   -  A weight range like no other boat.  Guys of 10Stone race on equal terms    with guys of 18Stone.

   -  The class is booming with 50+ Entries at Nats.   An established Scottish Circuit and a Northern circuit beling developed.

   -  We had force 6/7 winds at the Nationals with big seas and more than half the boats finished the race. The Laser ruined my knees, the contender and 600 need a force 4 to perform on handicap. The Phantom and Finn are too expensive and the 300 is becomming a youth / student fleet, and is hard to sail!!! 

Controversial? No, just telling it like it is.

5420 said:    yer but some people like a chalenge and go for boats like the 300 i would  ....

No disrespect to anyone out there .... but there is plenty of challenge in boats like the Phantom and Blaze etc - it's very far from being the preserve of the 300 alone.  Besides if you want a real handling challenge why not go Moth foiling or go MPS or IC or 700 ?  All you are saying is that you like the 300, fine ...many of us do even if we choose to race other boats.  But you should get one asap though ... you might even be able to PX the vario aganst one at RS  :-)    

But racing is so much more than simply mastering the equipment !   ... It takes even longer .....

Mike '720'

Me I sail a Blaze. Id love to try a 300 but cant ever see me wanting one, its just not versatile enough. Id love a Phantom but at 10 ½ stone Ill never be able to sail one in any kind of wind and apart from the fun of playing with the kite a Vareo has never appealed.

Me I wanted a performance single hander that I could sail in any wind strength. And the Blaze fills this requirement for me perfectly. At my weight I am never that competitive in fleet racing once it gets above a good 4 but I can win handicap races in anything up to a 7 because as the wind builds the boat is just awesome.

In a force 1-2 the Blaze struggles to live with a good Phantom and is about the same speed on the water as the local 300’s ! They are a much quicker boat but from my experience the average sailor struggles to get the best out of one. Although they do look awesome in the hands of some one that can handle it.

In a force 3 the Phantoms and Blazes have a great battle with the 300’s now dropping off the back. Once it gets up to this speed you can start looking to foot off for speed rather than just pointing, getting it right can be so rewarding.

Force 4 and above and the 300’s struggle, the Phantoms are sweating and the Blaze really starts to work well. With plenty of leverage and excellent controls that let you adjust the sail exactly as you need its easy for any one to get the boat singing.

The vareos never seem able to compete. If the course has a lot of deep spinni runs they do ok but in any kind of reasonable wind they seem to have to work as hard as the phantoms but with out the performance. They go up wind like slugs in comparison and cant hold there kites on a tight reach… where the Blaze and Phantoms are just awesome. Either way at our club they are like 300’s . All the boats seem to change hands every year as each successive new owner realises that the bad days outway the good ones.

I’m not trying to knock the other classes here just give the reasons for my choice, based on the observations that I made, for what there worth.

Finally Topper are selling more Blazes now than ever before, the national attendances are growing and growing and many people are on their second or third boat. Maybe they don’t appeal to everyone but clearly those that they do, and that like them, tend to keep them.