Feva or Laser?

I agree!! But I would choose a Laser over a Feva any day.

My signature explains all really!!

The Feva doesn't hold rig tension, its essentially an unstayed rig and the shrouds stop the rig from pulling forwards when the kite is up. The jib haliard just needs to be tight enough to stop the luff from sagging. Thats why its just a one to one purchase and the rope is pre stretch - it stops the rig from being over tensioned. The mast doesn't have spreaders (for versitility - big sail, little sail, single/double handed, etc, storage of mast in the boat) so pulling rig tension will just make the mast floppy in the middle section. This is also the reason the main haliard cleat is at the top of the mast - otherwise there is a 'bow and arrow' type effect when the haliard is taut and cleated at the bottom and the mast is floppy in the middle. We've recently sourced a side load camcleat for the top of the mast which is even easier than the old front load cleat. Theres actually not many examples of unstayed, unspreadered masts that have a haliard at the bottom (I can only think of old Solos) the Europe, RS300, Vareo, Finn, most Catamarans etc. all have their haliard fixed at the top of the mast.

Polyethylene hulls are proportionately softer than fibreglass hulls that can have local reinforcement, so any PE boat that holds rig tension requires the mast to be locked low down with a foot strut and lowers (a la Vago, Magno, Omega) or via a hanging mast foot and a high foredeck (a la Vision). This triangulates the rig loads. The Feva doesn't have these, so the extreme loads on the rig are soaked up by its softness, and the shrouds stop the mast from over bending when the spinnaker is up. Its all rather clever when you look at the nitty gritty and what it has to do.

The mainsheet is one to one as standard, but many sailors, especially youth sailors, add an additional block on the mainsheet horse to create a 2:1. The standard mainsheet rope length is long enough to do this. Both the mainsheet and kicker are upgraded as part of an inexpensive 'race pack', which makes life easier for those who are going to be using them, whilst not bumping the price of the boat up for those who don't know/care about adjusting! I guess your experience with fevas is on the Bough Beech club boats - these were supplied in basic spec - perhaps you should propose to the relevant committee that they are upgraded. The Sevenoaks School boats at BBSC have a modified mainsheet system for team racing - they obviously need a one to one.

The Feva rudder is huge for the size of boat, but gives a really reassuring solid feel, but is quite punishing if the boat is not flat or the blade is not fully rotated down. The depth of the blade means that slight changes in feel are very nticeable on the tiller, but means that the blade maintains grip to quite high levels of heel without stalling. Again, this is a versitility concern - enough control for the racers, enough reassurance for the novices. Sailed flat and fast and with the blade properly locked down, you should find the blade finger tip light. Check the boats you're sailing are rigged correctly, theres two rotating holes in the head of the blade depending on the make of rudder stock (there have been a couple of different models), and if you use the wrong one it will over/under rotate. The manual will help.

Hope this helps explain. You won't believe how much thought and attention went into designing parts of the boat might have been considered 'cutting corners', though inevitably there are slight compromises to suit the boat to a large number of people. Nevertheless it is this large number of users which creates the Fevas international popularity, good racing curcuit, squad training, etc. too.

I wasn't having a dig last night (albeit tongue in cheek ) RS genuinely wants to talk with people who have strong views on aspects of our boats. We are sailors and racers and instructors too, and our sport is driven by the enthusiasm, be it positive or otherwise, of its participants.

Originally posted by Riki @ RS The Feva doesn't hold rig tension, its essentially an unstayed rig and the shrouds stop the rig from pulling forwards when the kite is up. The jib haliard just needs to be tight enough to stop the luff from sagging. disagree, you need the jib luff tight to stop it flogging and it helps pointing but the easiest way to do this is to make a loop in the halyard and put it back through itself making a 3:1. Its all rather clever when you look at the nitty gritty and what it has to do. possibly The mainsheet is one to one as standard, but many sailors, especially youth sailors, add an additional block on the mainsheet horse to create a 2:1. nononononono you dont need a 2:1 its a waste of string. me and my sister did fine with a 1:1 you do need the bigger kiker though, even 6:1 its not quite big enough when it gets windy. The Feva rudder is huge for the size of boat, but gives a really reassuring solid feel, but is quite punishing if the boat is not flat or the blade is not fully rotated down. The depth of the blade means that slight changes in feel are very nticeable on the tiller, but means that the blade maintains grip to quite high levels of heel without stalling. agreed. the rudder is fine if its locked down properly and doesnt load up untill you get well heeled over or if you stick the bow in downwind without the kite, if you do this the rudder load can push 11 stone out of its toestraps and over the side of the boat. but otherwise its nice and light.

is that useful riki?

Edited by mike ellis

It’s always easy to take pot-shots at boats like the Pico, Topaz Uno and Feva because by their very design brief, they are designed to get people into sailing and have a multi function role thus they are always going to be a bit of a compromise. I sailed a Feva on a Neilson holiday too, their boats are a bit beaten up but we had a good time in them. Most of their hulls were early ones with the reinforcement scaffolding at the transom (one of the things that dissuaded us from buying one) + some of their masts have the cleat for the main halyard relocated to the base of the mast. We very nearly bought ourselves a Feva but in the end decided that the Topper Topaz was better value for money and we’ve subsequently moved onto (slightly) quicker boats. We have fond memories of the Picos and Fevas that we sailed with Neilson and also of our own Topaz (which eventually became a ‘Race X’), these are the boats that got us into sailing in the first place, surely that’s got to be a good thing ?

Nigel 

Edited by Webmuppet

the mast is stepped into the bottom of the boat with a gate holding it up like a pico or topper. becaue of this there is no need for a forestay alll the time so the jib luff rope is the forestay. however most people put a loop in the halyard and put it round the cleet and back through the loop before tieing it off. you can get enough of tension on like this (i could anyway, and i saw someone else rip the webbing out of the tack of their jib like this) to stop the jib being saggy on most days. however the rope would slip so if you were on the water for a long time on a windy day you ended up with a baggy jib.