singlehander for lightish man

whats an EPS?

Nobody has mentioned the RS300 which offers a phenominal level of performamce for a hiking boat.  Quite a challenge to sail but once mastered .......

Ian

That is true. The Byte rig has shown what can be done with sail development, though, and has speeded the boat up, but the hull is still based on a shape that is 40 years old. Improvements in all round speed must be possible without going to extremes, and wings can help balance the rig. I guess I'm thinking that if 14 foot boats are now 30-40 points faster than the Laser without being too extreme (the Blaze for example) then a smaller boat should be able to get within 20 points, around the 1100 mark, rather than the current 1150 - 1180 levels. RS100, anyone? 

As a 5'5" approx 11stone sailor with a bad back, I've been quite interested by this thread! I've sailed pretty much all the small singlehanders, so here are my views. Laser - side decks are so wide that the short legged among us find it pretty painful sitting out. Streaker - never owned one, but borrowed one and it was good fun and about the right size for a short As*. Comet - excellent in the light stuff, hell on handicap in a blow. Europe - exact opposite of the Comet - really come alive in force 4 and above, but in the light stuff the low boom and centremain made tacking a pain. British Moth - fantastic river and light wind boat with short hull and huge sails, but doesn't half nosedive in a breeze, as I found on Sunday...Solo, also currently owned - the fullybattened rig and traveller take some getting used to, but the ability to make the rig suit your weight is good. Not cheap compared to the others, though. Lightning 368 was nice to sail, but again the mast a long way forward. Topper was fine in a force 4 and above, but in anything less you need to be 8 stone. Minisail is great fun, but the rig was totally uncontrollable with a very bendy boom. Sliding seat versions good for a laugh. The Tonic was one of the best hulls for a singlehander I've had (at least in shape - the later ones didn't split in 2!) but the rig needed alot of work to make it truely fun. Most boats are a case of Oh Sh1t, splash - the Tonic gave no warning at all of the impending swim! I've not sailed the Byte since the rig changed, but on the earlier version the boat was nice and the rig truely horrible, so maybe it is now a great boat.

Most of these boats are between 11 and 12 feet long, and are fairly similar in speed - what is really needed is a new design of 11 to 12' singlehander that is nearer the Laser in speed but still can be sailed by the smaller person on restricted waters. Oh, and it needs to be cheap, please! Maybe I'd better design and build it...

By the way, I'd have to agree  with others that trapezeing is less painful on the back, but trapezeing on 85 acres doesn't sound ideal.  

I've overtaken lots in a blow, even in my ancient laser 1 !!!   River boats really I guess, but there are a couple of older blokes at our club who are very happy with theirs on a reasonable sized lake.