RS500 (Again)

i think they're selling it aswel if anyones interested pm me. (sail number 569)

I think the plan with the 500 was always to build the first ~50 in the UK and then move production out to Thailand which I think is exactly what happened without any problems.  I don't think the 500 was impacted by the issues with woofy's Brazilian adventure beyond the impact this was having on the fitting out process in the UK.

I would have no concerns about 500 quality

Ian

Ian - You are in a nearly identical position to me. I sail with my daughter and together we weigh 120kg. I had a 29er (No 333) and needed new sails. For the cost of new sails + what the boat was worth I could have an RS500 - so having trial sailed one I ordered it and quickly sold the 29er.  Next I sailed a demo boat at the RS500 Sprint Event at Rutland. Very enjoyable and in F1 -2 we were very quick. In the afternoon F3 we were still very competative although starting to struggle a little upwind -  but very quick downwind so still ok overall. We sailed in a pursuit race that had beam reaches and found that with the kite up we quickly got overpowered in F3 gusts - but would have been in the 29er again we were quick on broad / runs and ok upwind. I do like the 500 - it's fun to sail and whilst not as frisky as the 29er has several advantages - some of which you mention.

But in the end I bought another 29er!

My reasons were complicated and I could have gone for either boat. Basically I too dislike the poor layout and lack of decent downhaul/cunningham control on the 500. I spoke to LDC at the show about this and saw the (improved) fitting. But it's still a poor compromise - a racing boat like the 500 should have a fully sorted layout. LDC just didn't seem bothered - and it transpired that to change it to lead it back would mean a minor change to the deck mould so they're less likely to sort it. (Probably worried about retro fitting to existing boats). IMHO so called 'clever' features like the trapeze elastic holding up the toestraps are just poor, and cheapskate. When the trapeze elastic stretches (inevitable) the toestraps will sag onto the floor. Then there's the builder situation - some boats built in UK some in Brazil some in Thailand - if any get a reputation as leaky, heavy, slow, (no evidence of that yet) that might 'tar' all the early boats and it might be hard to sell them later.

I beleive that RS will get this sorted - and possibly quite soon but I didn't want to be saddled with a boat that was only half thought out / finished in the meanwhile.

I was also dissapointed at turnouts  - with 80 boats sold  turnouts of 4 at Rutlandand  less than 10 at next two events were poor. There were more at Stokes Bay but by then I'd got another 29er. It will be interesting to see how many go to there next Fat Face event at Filey.

I really like the boat,  I just think it's such a potentially great class that it deserves to be sorted out properly. Or maybe it's just me, and if I sailed it again with the new downhaul I'd soon get used to it - who knows?

So I'll probably still get an RS500 in the next year or so (and in fact still have a deposit on one).

Im not planning on switching as such. The 29er is still just about as close to our perfect boat as is currently available and the 500 falls short in a lot of areas.

Nowhere near as responsive in any respect.
Heavy both in terms of sailing sensation and dragging it up the beach afterwards
Much slower
Plus several things were annoying, battened jib getting caught on mast, everything getting caught on kicker turret, Cunningham a pain to reach for both hem and crew

However

It was more comfortable, I’m not getting any younger.
Having a cleat for the main made it easier for me (Hannah still doesn’t like playing the main)
I suspect the fleet has an average that is in double figures making opens more appealing
Centre board made launch / recovery and weed clearing during a race a doddle, especially as it is so stable... and being able to lift the board slightly also made two sail reaches nicer

Plus our 29er needs new sails and we could buy a nearly new 500 for the same money (as in our boat plus the cost of the sails)

But the real reason for the question was I’m just curious.

Ian

I had my first sail in a 500 today and have to say that I was pleasantly surprised. The rig feels to stiff (but i do currently sail a 29er) and the boat felt a little heavy in the water compared to the V3000 we were racing against but otherwise it had a lot going for it. Nice and stable, comfortable to sail and everything worked fine.  

Performance wise it seemed to be pretty much the same as the V3000 in the F2-3 that we were racing in. It pointed slightly better and the larger sail plan helped when the wind died but the lighter weight and more response rig of the V helped it in the puffs. Net result after a 2 1/5hr race round the cans on the River Medway was that we would have crossed the line together if Tony hadn’t chosen to drop it 10yrds from the line. It was a good fun race though!

Any way the point of the post. What sort of crew weight are people currently sailing the 500 at. Hannah and I are 120kg between us and although we feel perfect in the 29er we felt as though we would struggle in the 500 in a good F4-5 and up. We were fully powered up today and although I’m sure it will depower nicely it’s a lot of sail for small people and the rig just doesn’t feel that responsive!

Ian