Topper Magno

Wow, big typing...

I have had 2 experiences with the Mago. First, my own. The actual hull design was quite nice, but I thought the whole package was badly thought out and very poorly put together. I had borrowed a demo boat for a few weeks, and was very happy to give it back

The other experience is that of a family at our club. They are fairly inexperienced, but have been sailing a Magno all year and they love it.

Best thing to do is to go and try one, but also try all the others on the market too.

Possibly worse. it is the little things in the layout which were annoying. Because of the way it is built, the jib fairleads lead back to the aluminium bar that the mast sits on, which is in the wrong place, and to save cost, I guess, they have used the same fairlead and cleat arrangement on the jib as they have for the spinnaker uphaul. They are too small, and recleat themselves at bad moments! The Spinnaker system was pretty much impossible to get back into the chute, though I suspect with some alterations things could have been improved. As it was, the 3 points needed to fit into the short bag meant that it ended up in a large bundle jammed in the top of the chute.

The mast raising system was a nightmare, as you were supposed to attach the foot, and then pull on the forestay to bring the mast up. To begin with, of course, there is no leverage, as the forestay is flat along the mast. Not good.

The boat had really bad weather helm down wind without the kite up.

There was more, but time has erased it from my mind...

It is possible that Topper have sorted many of these things, so it would be worth taking a look at a new one.

 

How about a National 12 ...

Find out more at http://www.national12.org/index.shtml

2nd hand boats are very good value for money & hold their price too ...

Well established class association and events up & down the country ...

Rick

i would go with TT, the Feva is a reasonable size for a (smallish) adult and child to race as long as the adult helms. it will be better if your kids ever want their own boat and there is more racing to be had in it as you get better, i would be prepared to bet that noone actually races mango's seriously anywhere. if you get a second hand feva though, get one over sail number 300ish because they changed the transom design after this because the self drainage channels crack and the rudder falls off (i know, ive done it).

Originally posted by Richard Bryant Sorry about the original type, I don't know what happened to that. What particular problems did you encounter with the package and quality. My only other experience with Topper built boats was with an ISO, which did not seem to have very solid fittings (the tiller broak). Are the fittings etc on the Magno any better?

The Iso with sail numbers of >800 did apparently have some build quality problems. My Dad had an iso for about 5 years, it seemed realy solid and well made ( IMHO not the nicest boat to sail, but hourses for courses) and the only thing he replaced was sails.You cant judge a boat because the tiller broke as this happerns on all boats.

Topper plastic boats appart feom the topper have a well deserved reputation for being badly built! (I have spoken to some very un happy xeon owners this year.) So much so that I wonder if they are made from cheese. The magnos I've seen have been realy badly built. Please don't buy one! I will give you my plastic national 12 if it will stop you from buying one of these boats. PM if your interested.

Failing that I loved sailing my mirror with my dad when I was 7. There cheep so the money you save buying one can be used to pay someone to maintain it.