Which skiff to choose

He's back ...

BTW ... 29er is an excellent boat to sail on the sea. Sarah & I had one for a year and really enjoyed it.

Rick

The RS500 will be cramped.  it's only a bit larger than a laser 2 / 3000, more of a dad and a lad boat surely. 

The sole B14 owner at our place found it a scream up and down the wind but couldn't keep the nose down on club race reaching legs (technique perhaps?) it kept bearing off of its own and he stopped sailing it.  But they do look great.

4000 I'd say.  Fast and cheap - and with a wire instead of the B14's huge wings can get closer to the bouys too!!!

The 2:1 jib system has been taken off all the ones at Whitefriars. Not sure why anyone would have thought you needed it. I guess whether someone would get bored with the boat would depend upon what they are after in a boat. It is much less twitchy than a 29er, so it is possible to get on with the tactical side of things much earlier, and it is possible to collect a crew off the shore with little experience and still get round the course. It is probebly more suitable to the average club racer who's idea of training and practice is to get on the water 5 minutes early, rather than the youth squad training weekend type.

I'd say bite the bullet and go straight for the 49er. At 160 kg, you are probably too heavy to be competitive in the RS800 or 29erXX (we were told by an RS rep that 150kg would only be fast in heavy conditions fleet-wise). The 5000 consists of more "grunt work" than the 49er, due to sheet loads being heavier, kites having to be bagged, the weight of the boat and the rig being less well developed. We are currently sailing as a mixed crew, weighing between 135-140kg and have had no problems with boat handling even although we are at the bottom of the preffered weight range and feel that agility and proper boat tuning has more affect on the boat than weight and brute strength. The 49er also has Sport (cut down) sails, so they may be an option if the boat is too much of a handful initially. There are also quite a few mixed crews within the International 14 class.

i was sailing RS prototype at Burgfield and the centre board wasnt perfect to say the least. this might have made the rudder feel odd but id still say youd get bored with it quickly. my other major dislike with the 500 wsas the stupid jib system, it has a 2:1 on the jib but the sheets are led straight through the clew and there is WAY too much friction in it making taking and bearing away a right pain.