The Real D-One Thread

I'm intrigued by this. In my experience any twist in the hull platform makes the rig respond less well. If the platform is twisting that is using energy that would otherwise be put into deforming the rig and flattening the sail. The same can be said of a bendy boom - It just doesn't do the same thing as the mast bending and isn't useful.

Having said that my experience is limited to boats that accelerate with gusts...

Just out of interest what sort of person spends the best part of 10 grand on a newly introduced boat ? How many do you think you will sell in 2010 in the UK ?

I detect a degree of criticism of anyone buying a D-One from your question!  Best with an answer of not just what sort of person but also why? The 43 D-Ones sold to date have gone to people in their early 20’s up to mid 60’s.  When we took on the dealership for the D-One we tried to identify the democratic group that the boat would appeal to and came up with 40-55 year olds, male with some degree of disposable income.  The shock was the age range and also the number of people who have been prepared to dig deep to buy a D-One.  Almost everyone who has tested the D-One has wanted one – we are talking people with a mind of their own, individualists who don’t follow the herd.  Some reasons are very simple – the D-One is a fantastic sailing dinghy – fast, beautifully built, top quality using the best materials and fittings and a boat which will have a very long competitive life with low cost of ownership.  Some, for your interest, have bought D-Ones without even testing them and paid much more than specified the 10K to include packing and even airfreight.  This is all good stuff but even better everyone who has taken the step and bought a D-One has been more than happy with the decision – it seems that the more they sail the D-One the more they enjoy it. 

The promise of a great Volvo European and UK series is also appealing to many of our customers who are looking forward to the fun to come both on and off the water.  The prospect of family holidays at D-One events, nice venues, short and new regatta formats (details of all of this will be published soon) are all of appeal to people joining the D-One class.  The weight equalisation is proving to be very successful with 75 Kilos sailors giving the heavy guys a run for their money even in the strongest winds – this opens the class up to a greater range of sailors in terms of weight and height than almost any other single handed class.

Based on current levels of interest in test sailing the D-One and the indications from those who have already had a test sail we are projecting sales of 24 D-Ones into the UK in 2010.  I would not be surprised to find this to be a conservative estimate and that end up selling a great many more.  This is certainly not finger in the air stuff, it is based on real information and feedback from real people who are looking to joining the D-One fleet.

My apologies to all reading this as I know it looks like a sales push but I think that not to have answered the question was not an option.  I have been factual and reported things as we have judged them but, as I declared at the beginning of this thread, I do have a commercial interest.  I would much rather keep this thread on the technical issues, spec and reports/news on the D-One than get dragged into marketing and sales issues.

Rodney

D-One Volvo Cup – Italy 2010

All of these venues have been carefully chosen for their fantastic sailing and as lovely places for holidays – sun, beaches, food, wine and culture. 

We have scheduled to build a D-One charter fleet so that sailors can easily take a flight out to any of these events for a fly/sail holiday.  For more details on chartering please email me at rodney@devoti-one.co.uk . We can guarantee great events thanks to the generous support and sponsorship from Volvo and Devoti Sailing.  Why not come and experience a few days fun both on and off the water coupled with the chance to try the D-One?

I will soon publish the dates for the rest of the European events and a UK calendar.

Don’t forget to come and meet us at the Bloody Mary next weekend or the Battle of the Classes the following week.

Rodney

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Thats great, put me down for all of them, oh wait a minute, my lottery numbers having come up this week, I'll have to take a rain check!

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With cheap flights, special accomodation rates and low charter prices it's probably not necessary to get that Loto win

Just wing off that email!

Rodney