Rs 800

Originally posted by Chris Bridges you only have to sail a boat once to know what it is like.

The word "cobblers" (or something similar) springs to mind. I suspect there are relatively few people who can do that accurately - ones with experience in extremely large measures, and probably just as much talent.

But anyway, I'm curious about what people mean when they talk about how easy the 800 (or any boat, for that matter) is to sail. Do they mean it to be complimentart or disparaging??  Is it only impressive to win in a "difficult" boat? I could say the Laser is easy to sail, but it doesn't seem to harm its popularity. [And don't assume I mean it is easy to sail well]

Just been reading that 12ft's are unstable when moving slow, so surely a range of conditions need to be sampled before you can know a boat. Though Chris is right, a test sail is important and those are generally a one-shot affair in whatever the weather gods bring that day!

Edited by ColH

I'm going to throw the inevitable spanner in the works and ask if anyone has sailed a Cherub and how you thought it compared to the above mentioned. Mind you, I think that most people that get a sail in a Cherub end up getting one  .

here we go again

 Bickering and Cherubs ....

 

.....all because someone got bored

For me I like a hard boat to sail, I like the challenge but for others they like speed for little effort.

If you can handle a boat in 18 knots, you can probably handle it in 8.. Light wind stuff is pretty hard on any boat but I can pretty much gurantee you it won't get much harder/uncomfortable than a 29er! The 800 has a much bigger area on the water and is no where near as tippy. But any skiff is hard to sail in light winds comparative to the average boat.

You won't have a perfect idea from a test sail, but I don't think you can go far wrong with a test sail in an average wind speed of 15 - 18 knots. Not saying that it is perfect but I am pretty certain it owuldn't be harder than a 29er in the light! You will no what I mean if you have tried a 29er in the light. Its so tippy!! Not as bad as something like the 600 for tippiness though, but its easier to keep a flat boat in light conditions with one person (not countering each other out!

Depends what 14, I have only sailed one of the older ones so I wouldn't know what the fast boats are like. (not sure what it was that I sailed, oldish, maybe 1996ish. B14 i expect would be a different ball game as it is a hiking boat.

And yes, once oyur on the heavier side of the 29er it actually gets harder to sail..