RS Boats

I quiet like the RS/Microsoft comparisons. Both companys are very good at what they do and both sets of customers inslude groups who can see weaknesses in the one size fits all approach.

I think RS probably have done a lot of good for UK sailing, they produce some relativley cheap, resonably high performance boats that have a fairly broad range of appeal. At the same time they will never really appeal to the type of sailors who enjoy playing with tuning and systems and ideas almost as much as they enjoy sailing. I gess the main concern of the sailors in these classes is that the bigger the RS range gets, the fewer opportunitys there will be to play with non-RS toys. A few classes will have a high enough existing profile to be reasonable accessable (kind of like Apple) while the rest will get to a point where you only know about them if you are very intrested/lucky/geeky (like Linux)

So how you feel overall about RS probably depends which of those groups the classes you sail fall into.....

I would like to retract that comment, as I have no evidence to back it up. A quick search has shown a number of uses for the word gnav, and beside from being unable to patent a generic word, there is also nothing to point to laser's use as I stated. I appologise if I a wrong for smearing the Laser centre, unreservedly.

I do, naturally stand by my original post on all other grounds, gawping and the way SMOD's steal developments given to the world for free. On this basis, I think RS et al have great comparisons with Bill Gates and Microsoft.

While nobody can deny microsoft have changed computing, for better or otherwise, their products are using technologies they did not invent, marketed and aimed to deny anyother manufacturers from making the same product with the same use. As I am using this microsoft product to moan to you all, you all endorse the same product by reading it. The more of you race RS boats, the more of you will benifit from buying their products.

Further, RS have been defended for the great after sales service they offer, but this is also a great parellel with Microsoft. The investment in after sales is a way of ensuring people stay with the product, endorsing it further and maintaining market share. The dinghy world, like the computer world, will benifit from as much variety, and competition as the manufacturers can muster....... its a sad reflection that in the fast moving world of PCs that is no longer an option.

In my area (the north) I feel things are slightly (very slightly) on the up in terms of members numbers. Its worth noting clubs will always complain of no numbers till they have a waiting list. This upness is only after such a massive decline though, that some clubs nearly or actually folded. We are yet to be in postion of refering to dinghy and small keelboat sailing as healthy.