Alto - Why?

Someone asked why, in the Dinghy Show thread, so why would anyone (particularly
me) want one.

So, if you're me, which is still a relative newb at the gentile art of sitting down
sailing, but still quite knowledgeable and very competitive at windsports generally,
your looking for something that combines the best of traditional sailing and more
recent trends brought about by the Assyms.

Now as I see it, there's loads of toys for the boys, the macho need for thrills and
spills in the young and dumb. Personally if I need all that, it's to be had in far
greater doses in kite & wind surfing, so the idea of paying huge amounts of money
for some over canvassed piece of high tech product from a warped Australian mind
just for kicks in a narrow wind range and narrower sea condition is out.

And if most of your sailing is in either big seas, or in the case of light wind, then
usually unfavorable tide and or a less than Assym favorable course, then you need
something that can adapt to all these conditions, lucky for me someone else
thought exactly the same and took the most successful hull shape ever and simply
adapted it.

Here are some pics I took at the show.


That's the guy on the right that's developing the boat, Mike Arnold, turns out we
have 505 friends in common

Spinnaker chute

Retracting Centreboard, pull up pull down.

The pole and chute are controlled separately personally I'd rather it was one hit, but
Mike feels some crews (maybe female) might find pulling the lot out all in one go to
stressfull. Note the self tacking Jib, what a breeze that's going to be, I feel some
full planing spinnaker gybes coming on not having to frig with the jib as well. The
blue bag is a rope tidy, not having the flat deck of a skiff, there's plenty for it to
snag on. The other two ropes either side of the Centre board control the Pole
system, more on that later.

Spinnaker sheet and lowers, there's some new thin rope stuff that the Industry seem
to be adopting in droves, Jason my rep who also works for Holt did tell me what it
was, it was so remarkable I forgot instantly, for remarkable read cheap I guess, or
light maybe, ever the cynic me. Note also the hoop which offers centre sheeting as
well as the rear option in place on this boat, handy not to have to sheet off the back
in a breeze, hopefully no more tiller extensions wrapped up in the rear sheet
arrangement mid gybe.

The pointy bit

O.K. so this is the magic bit, the ability to swing the pole out to weather to allow the
kite to swing round far enough to even dead run the Alto for those tricky moments
like tide, moorings, a one sided course where zig zagging down wind is impractical,
at the very least you should be able to run deep. Kind of taking the RS400 a stage
further and with a trapeze. Our man Finchy (he's got a 400) is in dead trouble now.

So, here's a largely cometic difference from the five oh, stern chines, they're clear
most of the time, but give a bit of stability in a strong fast planing breeze I guess

Another view of the cockpit, plenty of room. I might fit cupholders and a magazine
rack, got to have something to keep us occupied when we're so far out front and
there'll be no-one around to torment.

The boom, shorter than a standard five oh by about a foot, but with a bit more sail
up top making the rig a bit more high aspect. As I said before, centre or rear
sheeting are both options.

The rig, he was wittering on about something to do with the top battens not being
quite right (I suspect our Mike is a bit of a perfectionist)It looks alright to me, but
then he's sailed it and knows.

So, what dy'all think, have i made a mistake, or is it all I'll ever need? I think for a
club racer, and a south coast good sea boat, it's perfect. Face it there's not much
choice, the V3000, the RS500 or the Washing up Bowl, if its single trapez assym
you're after....

Edited by G.R.F

http://www.altoboats.com/index.html

  

Radixion there is definatly a trapeze on it as can be seen in GRF's photos. 

Its good that slight diversions from a 505 have been undertaken.

I had a look today I am quite impressed.

If it sails as good as it looks and he claims it should do well.

I'm sure that GRF will have done his research and read this previous thread on the subject of the Alto, however if you want to get a bit more about its history etc. - clicky

Nigel

I think the Alto is a decent, good looking boat!

I've had a close race against the alto on a nearby river (Deben). Me and my Brother were in my Dads 400, the Alto kept up with us for about the first 3 laps but then we flew away as the winds eased. Very clean and tidy inside... maybe a couple too many ropes for my liking... but then again i only have 4 on the 600 lol.

Even if it does become a bit of a disaster idea (which i doubt) all i could say is good on the man for completing his dream of making a boat!

 

Also, a random fact - My Dads first ever 5'oh he had 20 yrs ago became the first ever Alto to hit the water...