New singlehandeded toy required
Printed From: Yachts and Yachting Online
Category: General
Forum Name: Choosing a boat
Forum Discription: Ask any questions about the sport!
URL: http://www.yachtsandyachting.com/forum/forum_posts.asp?TID=13112
Printed Date: 10 May 25 at 10:12pm
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Topic: New singlehandeded toy required
Posted By: Alibaba5643
Subject: New singlehandeded toy required
Date Posted: 15 Jul 18 at 2:11pm
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I'm looking for a new boat. I sailed a lot up until I went to university 4 years ago, but between summer jobs in landlocked parts of the country, and no desire to squeeze myself into a firefly for match racing I've not been on the water much.
Back then I helmed an ISO for a couple of years which was great fun, although a bit of a pig to right in a blow,having spent my childhood sailing picos, fevas, 2000s and the like. I've done a wee bit of sailing on a couple of summer holidays, mainly in lasers or beach cats like the RS Cat 16. I haven't exactly worked out where I'll sail but most likely on Loch lomond. I'm not a massive fan of racing and, most probably will spend most of my time sailing alone. Thus a boat that's relatively easy to right would be nice! I always fancied a contender but not sure I've got enough trapeze experience or agility for it, having only trapezed on cats as crew. A little bit of me is also tempted by a single handed cat such as the sprint 15 or hobie 14/17 - but I'm concerned they'd be a pig to right. A blaze always sparked my interest as has the vortex, but no idea if a sensible choice. A laser would be the safe choice, but I quite fancy something a bit more exciting, without biting off more than I can chew. For reference I'm around 6" 2 and somewhere around 90kgs. Should probably add budget is around 1k, could probably stretch closer to 1500 but that's about it for now. Amy suggestions and thoughts welcome! |
Replies:
Posted By: Sam.Spoons
Date Posted: 15 Jul 18 at 3:13pm
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Blaze if you want to blast around on your own, very easy to sail (though, like most decent racing boats, hard to sail well) and forgiving in a blow. Easy to right too when it dos go wrong. My mate, with experience limited to some windsurfing and a couple of years in a Topaz and L3k, has taken to his like a duck to water. A Mk1 would be in budget, there are boats around from £1100 on Apollo Duck or Blaze website at present. I haven't sailed cats much but I'd second your reservations re righting one when sailing alone. Vortex is cheap and a stable platform to learn helming from the trapeze but they are reputed to be less than sparkling downwind so an assy one might be worth considering. Contender might be ok, you are big enough, but learning to helm from the wire on one may be a bit of an ask. So my vote would be for Blaze, I love mine. ------------- Spice 346 "Flat Broke" Blaze 671 "supersonic soap dish" |
Posted By: Rupert
Date Posted: 15 Jul 18 at 3:16pm
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International Canoe. But if you get a contender, just make sure you build up to the big winds, and you'll be fine. ------------- Firefly 2324, Puffin 229, Minisail 3446 Mirror 70686 |
Posted By: PeterG
Date Posted: 15 Jul 18 at 3:32pm
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I'm not sure I'd choose a trapeze boat if you expect to be sailing mainly on your own without cover. ------------- Peter Ex Cont 707 Ex Laser 189635 DY 59 |
Posted By: Sam.Spoons
Date Posted: 15 Jul 18 at 8:26pm
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Me neither and I've done both, singlehanding the Spice in the lighter stuff. Most trapeze boats would limit the conditions you would be comfortable in (Vortex excepted maybe but probably not much fun in a drifter). Something with a little more stability widens the range of conditions you will sail in, the Blaze has done that for me and is a nice sail in 5 knots while still being manageable in 25+. ------------- Spice 346 "Flat Broke" Blaze 671 "supersonic soap dish" |
Posted By: Alibaba5643
Date Posted: 16 Jul 18 at 11:56am
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Thanks guys, some useful insights. I should probably clarify, that when I said sailing alone I didn't necessarily mean without cover, just as opposed to joining in with the racing, although maybe my mind will change on that.
Sam, so you find the blaze perfectly manageable in a blow? The iso had a fully battened main which while mega powerful, meant that when it was really windy it could feel like it was taking you for a ride, not the other way around. I still quite fancy a contender, but perhaps it's too big an ask. |
Posted By: Sam.Spoons
Date Posted: 16 Jul 18 at 12:48pm
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I was out in F5+ (20-25 knots) yesterday, just blasting, and the Blaze was brilliant. Well overpowered most of the time but staying in control. FB mainsails are definitely less forgiving in the blow, the current Blaze main has three full battens in the head and short ones in the bottom half of the sail. Works very well. FWIW I sailed the Spice on Saturday in 15-20 knots (two up, and great fun BTW), I have an ISO rig on it to preserve my good suit of Spice sails, and it really showed how much more manageable the Blaze sail is. ------------- Spice 346 "Flat Broke" Blaze 671 "supersonic soap dish" |
Posted By: Time Lord
Date Posted: 16 Jul 18 at 1:24pm
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If i recall correctly Loch Lomond has large shallow areas. Not sure if they are buoyed at all (think not) so you should consider a dinghy with a lifting centreboard rather than a dagger board which will not lift up when you hit the shallows.
------------- Merlin Rocket 3609 |
Posted By: Sam.Spoons
Date Posted: 16 Jul 18 at 2:12pm
Blaze scores again  ------------- Spice 346 "Flat Broke" Blaze 671 "supersonic soap dish" |
Posted By: Alibaba5643
Date Posted: 17 Jul 18 at 9:56am
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I believe depth isn't too much of an issue. They have a fairly large keelboat fleet and the Loch is fairly well marked. Looking at their fleet they seem to have a wide range of dinghies, so I think it shouldn't be too much an issue. Hopefully chatting to a club member soon who should be able to keep me right.
Sam,you're a clear advocate of the blaze. Any tips on what to look for if I ho down that route? |
Posted By: Sam.Spoons
Date Posted: 17 Jul 18 at 10:14am
 Yes I bought one a couple of years ago and it suits me very well. I don't think there is anything else like it, I already had the Spice and wanted a singlehander without a trap or kite that I would have a chance of being competitive in but was also quick and fun for blasting. The Blaze has exceeded expectations.Look out for the usual things, plus, at your budget you are probably looking at a Mk1, the rack system, the original rack had the front and outer tubes in one piece and these can be difficult to extend if it has been bent. Also check they are not loose where they attach to the hull/deck and check the rudder fittings. The boats are pretty robust and even a mk1 can be competitive with a decent sail. The sail is an expensive thing to replace, around £900 for the official North but Vantage Sailing do a Hyde replica for around £500 which is fine for club sailing and blasting. Used sails do come up occasionally too but if you can find a boat with a decent sail that is worth spending a little more money on. ------------- Spice 346 "Flat Broke" Blaze 671 "supersonic soap dish" |
Posted By: Sam.Spoons
Date Posted: 17 Jul 18 at 10:56am
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Oh, and just to add, if it's cheap enough a boat with a knackered sail could still be a good buy, I used my original sail when I was learning to sail the Blaze in a blow and it performed remarkably well. Despite holes and delamination all over the place it still worked and was/is fine for blasting around and having fun (though I doubt it'd win any races). ------------- Spice 346 "Flat Broke" Blaze 671 "supersonic soap dish" |
Posted By: iGRF
Date Posted: 17 Jul 18 at 11:59am
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A new guy won the race on Sunday in a Blaze and we have a Girl racing one with the Fire Rig, such a shame the new boatbuilders who's name escapes me, don't give them the same treatment they gave the Supernova and reduced the need for a crane to get them out of the water.
------------- https://www.corekite.co.uk/snow-accessories-11-c.asp" rel="nofollow - Snow Equipment Deals https://www.corekite.co.uk" rel="nofollow - New Core Kite website |
Posted By: Sam.Spoons
Date Posted: 17 Jul 18 at 2:05pm
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At least they seem to be building them down to weight these days unlike when T0pp3r had them..... ------------- Spice 346 "Flat Broke" Blaze 671 "supersonic soap dish" |
Posted By: Alibaba5643
Date Posted: 17 Jul 18 at 2:18pm
| Cheers for that, I liked the howlet designed iso, so I imagine I'd like the blaze too. Maybe I'll end up looking for a contender as a next boat as I think the itch will stay. May start looking out for a blaze somewhere not too far away. |
Posted By: Sam.Spoons
Date Posted: 17 Jul 18 at 3:29pm
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I guess you are in Scotland? Most are down south but this one is in Aberdeenshire http://sailingdinghies.apolloduck.co.uk/boat.phtml?id=570344" rel="nofollow - http://sailingdinghies.apolloduck.co.uk/boat.phtml?id=570344 Granted it's a little over budget but all the cheap ones seem to be down south. There was one at Yorkshire Dales IIRC which was closer to your budget but I can't find the ad. ------------- Spice 346 "Flat Broke" Blaze 671 "supersonic soap dish" |
Posted By: Alibaba5643
Date Posted: 17 Jul 18 at 3:38pm
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I am indeed. I'm currently starting a new job which is keeping me in London a few weeks but will be back up mid August so I'm not in any real rush yet. Sadly the Aberdeen one is a fair bit more than I have to spend at the moment and I'm keen to get on the water before the summer is out!
I'm going to keep an eye out as I'm happy to travel a bit, albeit the South Coast being a little too far! |
Posted By: Sam.Spoons
Date Posted: 17 Jul 18 at 4:01pm
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Shame you can't buy while you're in London, Kent is still a fair way but there are a couple down that way which are comfortably in budget. ------------- Spice 346 "Flat Broke" Blaze 671 "supersonic soap dish" |
Posted By: Alibaba5643
Date Posted: 17 Jul 18 at 4:54pm
| Indeed. Unfortunately I'm down with work and not with the car. Perhaps if I can get the time I'll go have a look at a few. The drive may be worth it if I know I've found a good boat. |
Posted By: jeffers
Date Posted: 18 Jul 18 at 12:22pm
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If you are going for a Blaze then the Mk 1 boats are up to an including 653, 654 onwards where the 'X' boats (different racks and the start of the Semi soft sail). Since then Cirrus took them on and now Hartleys build the boat (not sure of the numbers though). For up to £1.5k you should get a decent Mk1 maybe even a fairly decent Mk2. The only areas to watch out for is the front of the CB case on the Mk1 and 2 which were prone to separating under load (655 did this for me, I was put on to this by a few others who has the same issue). Aside from the just the usual things you would check, fittings, any obvious cracks/osmosis/soft spots. ------------- Paul ---------------------- D-Zero GBR 74 |
Posted By: Sam.Spoons
Date Posted: 18 Jul 18 at 1:30pm
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Blaze 729 is a mk2, 751 is a mk3 and Hartleys, I think, started with 800 and 834 is a mk4. The difference between mk2 and mk3 is easy to see as mk2s have the hatch on the top of the rudder post, mk3s have it on the side. Mk3s don't have a centre mainsheet turret, mk2s do (though I believe there is at least one mk2 that has had it removed). ------------- Spice 346 "Flat Broke" Blaze 671 "supersonic soap dish" |