RS300 Buyer's Guide

Perhaps it's because class forums often seem to be provided or sponsored by the manufacturer so they probably wouldn't be too keen on having something detailing their manufacturing/design faults front and centre.  

So, back to the original point of this thread.  I want to scratch the RS300 itch next year, budget is £3000 max so its likely to be a fairly early boat.  What are the common faults or weak areas with 300s that i need to keep and eye out for when trying to buy one?

Cheers,

Kev

The boom jaws are a problem area - but there is a fix.

As mentioned, for sub £3k you will be looking at a 305 - 420(?) numbered boat.  If it is your first 300 then 2 sails is a must, depending on other boats you have sailed, you will probably spend a few weeks getting intimate with the underside of the hull/ daggerboard.  Pulling the sail through water puts a lot os strain on the seams which are taped together so can be prone to splitting.  An old one can easily be fixed with duck tape.

As mentioned, lower masts can be an issue - easily fixed by attaching a half pipe of old boom to the front to spread the load - let me know if you need some.

As for the booms, check when/ if it was replaced.  The newer style ones have a double thickness at the gooseneck and at the mainsheet points, early ones didn't and were prone to breaking.

Other than that, no major issues with the 300.  Aim to get continuous kicker and cunningham, if not negotiate the price as they make a huge difference when sailing.

Otherwise, good luck finding one not already sold and enjoy the boat.  They are great fun and the class is really friendly.

Boats are like houses, only worth what someone is willing to pay.  Second hand 300's were £2.5 -3k when I bought my first one (365) in 2007.  Resale values have historically been good on 300's because so few were made and demand is high.

I have to say that I think there's some scaremongering going on about not buying boats over 5 years old. 

My boat was built in 1997/8 and has been raced pretty hard continuously since 2002 onwards. The only hull cracking is internal behind the mainsheet takeoff point (where you put your feet when tacking). It's cosmetic and I've re-gelcoated. It can get worse and need professional work doing - you just need to check the area to see if there are hairline cracks only or deeper cracks that might need some work.

Masts can crack low down where the gnav bars roll up and down. This is due to the huge amount of kicker we use. If there is cracking then it's terminal I'm afraid. I've never seen a mast mended adequately that has had cracking here. As a result, most owners put protective strips on the mast. I'm still on my original mast, as are most owners, so it's not a huge problem.

There are 2 issues with the alloy booms. They grow a permanent bend over time at the gnav pivot point (due to kicker loads). It's not an issue unless there is cracking on the underside of the boom at this point - in which case it's terminal. The gooseneck jaws need to be inspected to ensure the rivets have not worked loose and cracks have appeared joining up the rivet holes in the boom. If they have there's an easy fix - replace the rivets with bolts (probably should do this anyway to prevent movement) and put a robust backing plate inside the boom and bolt to the jaws. 

I only replaced my original alloy boom last year so they generally have plenty of life in them. Very few boats yet have the carbon boom and there's no speed advantage of having one.

A good sail is nice, but it's not strictly necessary. A new sail is only worth the expense when you have stopped making some of the more obvious errors, which may take a few months. And because the sails are largely laminate they hold their shape extremely well (especially the older white ones). I often use a 2006 vintage sail held together by tape and it performs well still. (I recently measured it against a new sail and it had not stretched at all).

I guess what we're saying is that 300s have their little issues like every other boat on the market. However, the hulls are pretty bullet-proof as Ruscoe says, they're epoxy and are not subject to rig loads so last really well. You don't need a new boat to go fast - boats in the early 300 numbers remain competitive.

If you contact me via the yahoogroups forum (sign up at www.rs-association.com ) or the RS300 Class facebook page I'll drop you my contact details if you would like to chat things through. We'll also be at the Dinghy Show.