Which One Design?

Here is one for you

Friend of a colleague in Uk, ex fireball sailor wants to maybe get into keel boats but worried about OD fleets. Which is an affordable 'racer-sleeper' with a quality OD fleet and nationals(i.e. forget mumm30s farr40s etc etc)

Based in Aberdeen, but willing to do weekends on solent or clyde or any 'easyjetly' place.

X332 would be in price range (up to £80k syndicate)

I've raced Sigma 33's and they would defo fit the bill.  There's a good fleet on the clyde and some really competitive racing.  Normally a good fleet at Scottish Series / West Highland Week, and when I was at Cork for the nationals there were 70!  A few years ago now right enough.

Other option is the First 30.7.  There are several of them racing the Scottish circuit, and they are virtually a OD.  Also a bit more modern than a Sigma.

What about the X 332? Where are the fleets?

 

The bloke can easy jet to the south and comes from somewhere south of brum anway

I see the sigma clyde fleet is way down, with dublin bay buying some of the boats. getting pretty tired the well raced examples now, even some of the later builds.

Yeah, I think I did mean the first 31.7.  They look like really nice boats.  I haven't seen down stairs on one, but I imagine they are fairly spacious since they're a modern shape.  Easy as comfortable as a slightly larger but older design.  They also seem to sail well and they are certainly quick.  We sailed against some at Scottish Series in a 33.5ft boat and struggled to stay ahead. Re. the OD status you're right they do allow diff. sail, spar manufacturers etc. but that isn't unusual really.

The X332's also look nice and maybe there are some deals on second hand ones if the fleets are dropping off?  Look really sweet with kevlar sails etc.

Have you ever been an owner, Freddie? Or have you ever regularly organised crew on a bigger boat? X332 = crew of eight to be competitive. Finding seven other people every time you want to sail becomes a chore very quickly.

Compare that with an SB3, or even a J//80 or 707. Less money, less hassle, bigger fleet racing, fast responsive boats. Spend some of the money you save on hotels instead of sleeping on the boat. Why do you want a boat with beds in order to race W/L or round the cans, which is what most people want these days? Want to cruise once or twice a year? Charter a boat somewhere sunny.

I know plenty of people who own sportsboats not because they can't afford bigger but because they have been there, done that and don't want the hassle anymore.