A little bird told me...

Well I'd also like on the agenda..

Hiking S/hndrs
RS300, Solution, Blaze, Phantom (For my pal)

and
Trapezoid S/H
RS700 MPS Contender

Not sure how many I could get through in a day.

But I bet we could find owners of those boats on this forum and organise
a kind of swap meet..

Sort of On the water Class Association get together like the dinghy show
only wet.

Pic somewhere pleasant and central (Like here in the South East )

Check the weather forcast, then hitch up and away using this forum as
the final 'it's on or off'

Well I for one have always offered my boat to people to have a play in to see what they think and I'll continue to do so with every boat I'll own in the future. 

Doug

Demo days are one thing but comparitive reviews is another.

As GRF says lets get L4000's V3000's 50's RS500 & The Alto, ISO etc. all together at one place, let everyone sail each others boat and then let them comment to Y&Y resident hack who can put together a review.

It would be much the same as the ISAF boat selection tests albeit without the politics and would provide prospective newcomers with a much better understanding of the pros and cons.

If you include a couple of testers who havnt sailed these boats but are thinking of purchasing one within the mix of testers then the review should be well balanced, rather than a "my class is better than yours" bunfight which I expect Y&Y are worried about creating.

Given the size of the review it could perhaps be rolled over 2-3 issues, with a different type of boat tested per quarter, that gives time to organise the event.

So we'd have:

* Lightweight hiking Singlehanders
* Medium hiking Singlehanders
* Heavyweight hiking Singlehanders
* Lightweight/Junior hiking doublehanders (No spinni)
* Medium to Heavyweight hiking doublehanders (No spinni)
* Lightweight/Junior hiking doublehanders (incl. spinni)
* Medium to Heavyweight hiking doublehanders (incl. spinni)
* Trapeze Singlehanders
* Single Trap doublehanders
* Twin trap doublehanders

Cats can and should be included within the above categories, as they are essentially dinghies (just with stabilisers ). Ok some inland venues are restricted by backward thinking water companies on what they can and cant sail but if someone is looking for a twin trap boat to sail with their teenage child, why just narrow it down to RS800, when the Spitfire or even F18 would also be suitable.

So lets ave it!

Does nobody organize mass boat 'demo days'?

Everyone turns up at the local res or beach, manufacturers are invited to
bring their demo boats and everyone has a bit of a go in each others
boats.

We do it all the time for windsurfing and kite surfing.

Typical one back in the day would be Boards at Bewl.

Maybe they should get together and try one out Boards & Boats at Bewl..

All y'all have to do is turn up with your kit, no trailing your own boat
unless you're a sponsored rider in which case we get to trash your boat.


Edited by G.R.F.

Hold up, boy, this is under Banter. Best get yaw ass over to 'For the Magazine' afore I use ma boot to giv ye some asistance...