RS600 on inland water ?

Originally posted by Merlinboy I sailed a 600 wasnt a big fan to be honest, i much prefered the 300.  In terms of what you get for your money a contender is a better bet, after all we all know what LDC stands for and all the 600's i've seen leak like a siv.   For those who dont know what ldc stands for (Leaky dinghy company)

Erm... Niether of my 2 600's are that new so you might expect a bit of a dribble after a sail or two... not at all; neither 609 (thats right, ancient!) or 790 leak at all, not one drop after months of sailing. I might be wrong but i think thats pretty good going for some fairly old boats.

609 has a bit of history, it doesn't look pretty (lets face it, how ugly can a 600 get?!) but it has managed to put up with a fair amount of abuse and still no leaks what so ever. I'd say thats impressive, and some great building.

Personally i love the 600, it's a beast! Really light and REALLY responsive! However as has been said before it is a challenge, and would be even more so on a small piece of water. The contender is also great fun to sail, although can be a bit of a dog in light winds (all boats are really, people just won't admit it ), i'm sure you could get over this if you want to wire, makes it just that little bit more fun i think. From what i've heard the 300 is great and would deffinatly be the hiking boat i would choose.

The single best piece of advice for choosing a boat is to try before you buy. Other people opinions may be helpfull but you will never know what its really like untill you try yourself.

Cheers
Fergus

Edited by 29er397

Originally posted by Merlinboy I sailed a 600 wasnt a big fan to be honest, i much prefered the 300.  In terms of what you get for your money a contender is a better bet, after all we all know what LDC stands for and all the 600's i've seen leak like a siv.   For those who dont know what ldc stands for (Leaky dinghy company)

 

 

i think the prob was with the sailer russ, not the boat

The 600 is the ultimate "get up and go" boat, when i sailed mine at abersoch, id roll out of my static caravan, and once down the beach, id be rigged and ready in less than 5mins. One of the best boats ive ever sailed

 

Owain, you had to role out and have it ready in 5 mins other wise you would miss the race u lazy git

TT, I’m only joking mate, albacore is boring; hence why I’m selling it flaccidness is rarely a problem even when drunk!! In-continence whilst toxic is lol

Edited by Merlinboy

I must admit I've been going through the same dilemma recently myself.

I've been toying between a phantom, a contender and an RS600 but have similar issues in that I normally sail on the exe estuary which is light and shifty and is very tidal.

My question are as follows...

My initial thought was to go for an rs600 but is the class in decline? Lots of boats on the market and not many boats at the nationals. By contrast, the phantom and contenders seem to have a healthy fleet and there are fewer boats on the market which tends to suggest that demand is outstripping supply (certainly seems to be the case for the phantoms).

We have a few contenders which all seem to do poorly in the fast handicap fleet (no criticism intended of the local guys at the club). I guess that the rs600 would not be any better off on handicap although the club seems to be gathering a few b14's and other skiff like asymmetrics.

Do I just go for the fun / wow factor? Do I go for a contender which at least gives me someone to race against? Or do I go for a phantom (I'm 95kgs but have a dodgy knee after having had an ACL reconstruction a couple of seasons ago) which would give me a healthy open meeting circuit, a well attended nationals and a good resale value?

Could anyone recommend a sail in an rs600 somewhere in the southwest or would I have to go up country?