Curtains for Assymetrics?

I can't make up my mind about Assys. I enjoy the tactical side of getting down a leeward leg as efficiently as possible (gybing on the lifts, judging laylines etc) but IMO they don't seem to boost performance much in the slower boats.

For my mind it’s still a little too early to say.  Most if not all assy dinghies in recent years (excluding the development classes) have been launched by large builder with big targets and bank managers to satisfy, so in order for the business model to work they need to sell allot of boats into a market very quickly.  Regardless if it’s the right boat to sell into the market place or to the specific customer.  Therefore you see and instant result in terms of nationals attendance.  Assy boats by their very nature are pretty powerful over canvassed craft that require time, fitness and commitment to achieve most sailors long time goals (to win) time which many people don’t have, this coupled with the classes need to really be sailed on less restricted water means that nationals attendances will drop off for a few years whilst a proper used boat market and demand is created.  Just look at the Musto as a case in point.  Traditional classes offer people an easy route into sailing, you can pick up pretty much all of them in a cheaper form, they are jacks of all trades master of none, they all tend to perform well in handicap racing, they have established tuning guides and sail makers.  They have proper infrastructure from the class associations.  So actually they offer better instant value for the modern sailor.  To my mind its nothing to do with the kite itself, more to do with the other sh*t that’s needed to make a class a success. 

 

I’m not saying that the UK D1 fleet business model is the right way (its certainly very far away from perfect), but the ethos is clear.  Organic growth, proper class run association, support from supplier.  Being open and talking to the sailors about rule sets.  in fact very little about how we do things is commercial led.  It’s to provide a strong footing for long term growth.  Now I am not sure that we will ever trouble the Laser or Solo for the National attendances table.  But for me there is a market for Assy boats, I am just not sure that really the dinghy industry really understands its customer base fully...

Never having sailed a symmetric kite, nor ever wanting to because they are old fashioned, I had always hoped the assym would continue to develop, more innovative ways of making it do the dead downwind in light conditions thing.

What goes on with AC, foilers etc is about as relevant to what we do as F1 is to the cars we drive.

So, no I don't think it's curtains entirely but yes demand has slowed, but that's more due to the inadequacies of the current designs, which has permitted the coffin dodgers aided by a half baked industry preying on the status quo or the worse character traits of the banditerati one last hurrah in the promotion of those old should be dead and buried classes.

And I could still point to successful growing classes, albeit slowly but the D1, has taken up where maybe the MPS has slowed as did the RS100, so there is demand which the day a well priced more easily sailed kited single hander shows up, will inevitably demonstrate.

Edited by iGRF - 17 Sep 13 at 12:28pm

Originally posted by RS400atC The SMOD you are not mentioning is the 29er. That seems to be doing the business, training up the youths, seems to be steady in popularity. Will those people defect to the GP14? I think not.

I guess this fits into the 'horses for courses' category. I know very little about the 29er, but my impression is that it is a fast boat for teenagers that feeds into the 49er. It therefore has its place.

It would be interesting to suggest the GP as a youth training boat though . Any takers?

The SMOD you are not mentioning is the 29er.