Vago as a first boat?

I've now owned our Vago for just over a year. It was our
first boat and to be honest I still think it was a good
choice.

Here are a few points;

It's marketed as both a single handed and double handed
boat which to a certain extent it is. However you need to
be pretty good to sail it well singlehanded and pretty
much need to be able to trapeze otherwise it's a hard
hike in all but the lightest of breezes. From a layout
point of view it's definitely a compromise when single
handing.

I'd agree that it's a bit buoyant on the bow (or heavy at
the rear) which means in light winds the helm would be
sat where the crew would normally be and the crew is
generally asleep on the foredeck (I think there's a few
classes like this though). Having said that, in the
really light winds it's quite competitive.

A lot of people say the Vago is quite tippy. At first I
thought it was too but like most things you get used to
it and now I don't think it's tippy at all. However, the
sides do flare out quite a bit and the boat can lean a
long way over without actually capsizing.

The Vago training weekends run by the class association
and Sail Laser are very good. The GBR 49er crew Mark
Askwith ran the course last year and was excellent.

We sailed both the Laser 2000 and the Vago before
purchasing the Vago and to be honest the 2000 just felt a
bit dull compared to the Vago. The wife really likes the
trapeze so the Vago was always on top.

There's not a lot of them about which is a shame when it
comes to club racing but the RS200 is almost the same on
PY (double handed) and the 2000's are always a boat to be
picked off.

I'm not convinced the plastic boats are that much more
durable than GRP ones. They definitely dent easier and
like mentioned before they are more difficult to repair.


I'm glad I bought it as a first boat. I've learnt a lot
with it and have still got plenty more to learn. I'm sure
we'll upgrade to something more 'acceptable' in the next
couple of year (RS800 tops my list at the moment) but
even then I may keep the Vago in the park for those days
when you really shouldn't go out but we're really glad
you did!

We have magno's sailing at our club, and they are ideal for using to train people in take the bumps really well, not too difficult to sail, and plenty of space. They are not bad boats for people to take the next step and learn to race in and improve their skills, but I would not reccomend trying to learn singlehanded sailing in one though, the controls are not ideally led for one person to use all three sails, although I have not tried the rig with just the main, with so much boat under it I am sure it would feel unbalanced and under powered.

Having sailed both the Magno and Vago (and also the Topaz Vibe which hasn't yet been mentioned) - the Vago is probably the best of the three for use as a single hander. I've seen them sailed at Minorca Sailing as a single handed trapeze boat using a long tiller extension borrowed from one of their RS700s. I think that you need a pretty windy day to get it to work in that configuration, I sailed it as a single handed hiking boat on a day with lighter winds and it was OK. The only thing that I found disconcerting is that the Vago's hull seemed to flex a lot (more than other rotomoulded boats that I've sailed).

Another boat which might fit his requirements is the RS Vareo it's got a higher freeboard than some of the boats already suggested, there's a smaller 'fun sail' available for it and the because they've been out for a few years, there's a few for sale at a variety of prices. Admitedly its not rotomoulded but it is very robust boat and might be worth considering.

Nigel 

laser 2000 is a good boat, not plastic but pretty hardwearing!

Topper Magno is even worse. A whole new world of terrible
from my experiences.

Laser 3000 is much better than both and can be picked up
cheaply.