RS 500

riki, that post was rather tongue in cheek. the black kite does go well. its a good colour to choose in that its easy to see and so better for trimming than say white which can be harsh. its understandable that you only want to stock the one colour especially until the class become of a large enough size to warrant the extra cost of different coloured kites.

im sure it does look impressive to see a whole fleet blasting downwind with black kites. i just like something which sets my boat apart

and feva sailor, there is no way a 500 would eat a 29er unless it was stupidly windy or stupidly rough sea conditions. the 29er is lighter, narrower in the water, has a better sail plan and is a thoroughbred racing boat. the 500 is a more forgiving boat offering relatively close performance. if both boats were sailed by the national champs im sure the 29er would draw away fairly convincingly.

I like the black kites........in fact I purchased a black one for my Vareo just before I sold it, however, it seems that they are a bit like Marmite - you love 'em or hate 'em, there's no middle ground.
Interesting that whilst we were at 'Minorca Sailing' last year, they used red/white Musto Skiff kites on their RS500's for their brochure photo-shoot - they thought that they looked more photogenic !

Nigel

Its funny, I get really polarized feedback about the black spinnaker thing. Just as many people shout that we should keep it as change it.

There is a more thoughtful decision than just what Hydes give us of course. From a production perspective it saves expensive stocking. For instance we stock around 5 spinnakers for a weeks RS500 production, but for the RS400 which has a 5 colour spinnaker choice, we stock 20+ sails to cover every choice. Its not quite as bad as that but you get the gist. Secondly, its important to drive the identity of a class from the outset - a yellow flash on the mainsail is a feva, a 500 is very identifyable as a 500, partly due to its spinnaker. VW SB3 spins, red Mirror sails, Blue Ent sails, Big hearts on Cherubs - you can spot them a mile away. Seeing a big fleet of RS500s all with identical matching spinnakers is a pretty impressive sight, and is certainly not boreing. I'll keep an eye on this and we can adjust the colours if we think the balance moves. tmoore I promise it won't be pink!

Originally posted by G.R.F. Why perpetuate growth failure? I think it's a terrible mistake to attempt to force the old onto newcomers. Sure Fireballs were great in their day, but that's been and gone. Same as any conventional symmettric boat, I can't believe anyone coming fresh into the sport would want to go down that path. Its why classes inevitably stagnate and die. Moving from a laser 3000 to a Fireball just because others are misguided enough to hang on to the past must be a mistake imvho. But what do I know? Only the modern stuff clearly.

GRF I have in the past offered to give you a ride in a sysmetric boat and I am sure that you would understand the advantages of a sysmetric boat.
There are disadvantages but I feel that its a bit off to knock something that you have admitted in the past you don 't fully understand.

To the OP if there are other Fireballs at your club get a go in one, they are great boats and you should be able to pick one up for very little and be able to sell it again easily if you dont like it, not sure you could say the same about an ALTO.

as i sailed an rs500 every week at school for the past year i feel pretty qualified to answer this post. the 500 is a relatively easy boat to sail (for what you get back in terms of performance). with an 8stone crew you should be fine in it once you have sailed it a few time and know what your doing. i took a girl out in one to teach her to use a trapeze in a f4. she was absolutely tiny (guessing 5foot 2ish and 6 or 7 stone at a real max) we coped fine and even had the kite up with no swims.

on the other hand once you get used to it they are really good boats in a big breeze and waves. the final time i sailed one we were pretty much the only boat on the water and the rib pacing us said we were going about 16knots downwind with the kite. yet it felt totally managable and in control. in essence these boats are similar to the 29er in speed but much easier to sail (before anyone asks yes i dhave sailed a 29er quite a lot). they are faster than the 9er in light stuff but neither are particularly rewarding to sail until you get wiring.

one thing i would say is do not get the dacron sails. at our school my crew and i basically got our own boat (only ones that used it) after about 6months use both the main and jib were sh*gged. the mylar ones we used nearly as much are still in great condition. the dacron sails seemed to have very little shape wheras the mylar ones felt so much more balanced and generally better sails.

the handicap is fine at 972, we have won races at the club with it. its especially good in breeze. best bet would be to try one a few times if you can.

cant comment on the fireball as i have never sailed one. all i would say is dont go for a boat just because everyone else has one. go for the boat which gives you the biggest sense of satisfaction when you come off the water.....

at the end of the day its totally your choice. if you want more info about how the 500 sails etc then feel free to pm me etc.

one thing RS, could you make the kites in different colours, black is soooo boring, something like bright pink etc would be so much nicer