Another which boat...

i am aout 5ft 9ish and only 67kg. i also sailed a radial beforehand. my first sail was in an A rig and i loved everyminute of it. i now have bought a boat with a B rig. fully powered up in about 5knots. but the boat depowers SOOOOO easily. lots of kicker and downhaul 'al la laser' (excuse spelling etc).

i love the boat to bits and find it great fun to sail on the sea. you do need to be faster and more in tune with the boat. it also requires MUCH more concentration that the radial. but you will feel the rewards. have yet to take it out in extreme conditions. but in a f4 was going nicely upwind with a bit more depowering capacity.

when you first get into it you will be shattered after each sail. it is seriously hard work. but in my view, worth the extra effort. one thing i can promise you is that you wont get bored in this boat for a long time.

tom

as an outside chance theres the 600, i understand that there are few at weston. you would need wide racks and i would think it might be a challenge at your height. im about 5' 10'' and between 68 and 70 kilos. so im right on the top weight range of wide racks and i find it a really enjoyable boat (if very wet). if you want to come and play on mine when its mended (cracked the foredeck and snapped the rudder last weekend) drop me a PM or email (mike (at) ellisdesign (dot) co (dot) uk).

Edited by mike ellis

The RS300 is the one that appeals most for boat itself but fleet racing is non existent in the class at my club whereas the Europe has a fleet.  No offence to Byte sailors but they seem too small and slow to me.  Will see what I think of the Europe this weekend and if the RS300's at my club appear over the winter will try and get a go on one of them too.

Used to sail double handed but have no crew anymore and I'm a rubbish crew as I boss my helm around too much.  Had a go helming an RS800 a few months ago which I really enjoyed (even when I tacked without unhooking ooops!) but no one to sail with regularly.  Plus my OH is trying to convince me to stick with radial as he's a laser sailor and makes things much easier for travelling to events.

rs300s are very cool if you want a good single hander - i'm a very similar build to you and have sailed one before, didnt fnd it much struggle, and there was a fair bit fo wind, but try it before you buy, you need to be quite nimble and fast reactions. They sit quite high when you capsize, heehee.

Have you thought about going double handed? There's a lot to be said for sailing with someone else, as either helm or crew, you learn a lot. I crewed after helming for ages, and am addicted now. Its a great tool to have.

Originally posted by tack'ho Honestly a 300 would be great but unless you are sh** hot they can be a real handful for someone of your weight in big wind and waves (even the A rig).  You will find that a lot of the lightweights in the class sail inland!

where did you get that interesting fact from? I think it is safe to say that the sailors are evenly split between sea and pond.  See the photos below. Two of the lightest sailors in the fleet sailing A rigs at the 2006 nats on the same day. One is a pond and one is a sea sailor. Can you tell which? 

Edited by dics