Slot Gasket Replacement

Well far be it from me to pour scorn on a new design, precisely the sort of thing I like to see and indeed a fine boat, not the only new boat at the FOM, the X1 also new, also with features and benefits to suit a given set of circumstances.

But we are all victims of our own circumstance and mine isn't given to wasting the efforts of a perfectly capable crew by having them just sit there to provide ballast especially when both parties get more enjoyment from a three sail reach or run.

So I would ordinarily prefer an X1 even over the icon were it not designed to be an old fashioned propping up a clothes line style pole with which to operate it's ballooney thing.

Had I been up at that FOM at the helm of the Alto of joy it would have been a very different set of results over the water, especially in those conditions in which the boat performs very well even without getting out on the trap.

So a boat like the Alto gives you the best of both worlds, you can muddle along like an Icon, but then when the wind puffs up you engage another gear, it is imvho a far superior device for folk with actual motor skills and proper red corpuscles flowing through the veins.

That doesn't mean there isn't a place for an Icon, it is a fantastic device for introducing folk to sailing and sail racing, bringing along the family, far better than consigning new folk to old wooden tubs, GP14's Enterprises and the rest of the old dross.

In a perfect world there need only be a few boats and one of them could well be an Icon, but the Alto should also be present for the more adventurous types that can still enjoy the rush without necessarily being an ex squaddie or pro jock.

It's a very wrong thread pitching the two against each other, they both have their place, but in this thread, it's about a single trap boat with a flushing strip and last time I looked the Icon was neither of those and it has a massive thread of it's own where you fanbois and girls can hang out and talk about how much pain you can suffer in your bottoms without whining..

More thread stealing .... And back to the best boat to hit the market in years! ... iCON....... Oh dear, out of my inexperience, I've ordered the wrong boat and may have to sue the suppliers and designers, and maybe even Devoti (who clearly know nothing) as I thought and they assured me that the boat would be great for sea sailing

An Icon from what i observed at the FMO is more an inland craft for more sedate sailing,

Oh dear we'd better re-design it then .... but just maybe not - we're not that sure if you'd recognise a pit-bull if it bit you every day for a year in the backside either   

Mike L.



Edited by blaze720 - 01 Nov 12 at 12:01am

Without a kite? How can any boat perform other than in a mediocre manner without a kite? When you have all that open water...

Now it's not 'mis' information, it is my opinion as one who sails more on the sea than inland, that doesn't mean those nice icon boats don't work equally well on the sea, but this is a post from a guy with an RS500, something I do have quite extensive experience of having owned one for a couple of years, he misunderstood my recommendation because of all the icon 'chatter' you people litter up the place with, which you are entirely welcome to do, but don't expect everyone to think it is anything other than a tame easyboat for beginners on puddles.
When you feel up to it, the sea will welcome you, and when you do, you'll want to go just that bit quicker and buy a nice boat with a big ballooney thing that makes sailing just that little bit more exciting. That is not misinformation it is fact, a fact the OP already knows because he has chosen a boat with a wire and a kite, not a widebody bathtub with just the two sails..

icon, alto all these new boats with funny names confuse me!