Parker 404

To be fair, the 404 lost out in the trials (a bit too 'adult' I felt at the time) so wasn't really RYA supported.

But then, of course, the RYA went on to back the 29er, and we all have our views on that - wet, off-putting views for a lot of kids. But we're only bothered about the elite, aren't we?

I wasn't on the panel, but just read about the trials in Y&Y at the time - they gave a pretty in-depth report with photos of all the boats. Compared to the other boats in the the trials the large-rig 404 seemed more powerful, i.e. like it needed more crew weight than the target group of sailors had. The small rig seemed a bit of a mis-match for the hull.

I think the RYA made the right decision in choosing the 405 according to the criteria they had in mind, but when I saw the Hobie version it didn't look as attractive as the prototype. Still a good little trap boat for (very) small people though.

I raced against a 404 regularly at one time in my Laser 2, and I recall we were quicker in any sort of wind, but that the 404 was pretty nippy in light airs. Despite being the handicapper for our pursuit races at the time, I don't have a record of the boat's PY, just the personal figure i allocated. I think, though, that the large rig was a couple of percent slower than the L2, thus roughly 1055 in today's money. The small rig was 5% slower than that, i.e. about 1110.

Thanks medway maniac, your PY estimates seem to tally with our boat performance. We have the small rig and just about compete with a laser radial (py1101).

Could really do with getting our hands on a full size main! In anything but stong winds I think we are just too heavy (148kg) for the small rig. I assume the sails aren't the same as another boat and that we will require a costly one-off item? Pinnel and Bax make are current sails, any recommendations?

Olly seeing some more pics would be cool, interested to see your sails, rigging etc. to check we are doing things right!

Many thanks for your continued help..