So which boats are out there that are really good but just haven't seemed to catch on, be it due to marketing, lack of interest etc.

or to put it another way, what would sell like hotcakes if only it was made by Ovington boats!

Bell Flyer!

I owned a Megabyte for a while (between Finns).  It was light, reasonably fast, and very comfortable to hike and loads of room to move about in it.  Went upwind well and flew off the wind.

But it had a few design flaws, nothing too major but just the little things that let it down, a really crap plastic bailer that I managed to push through the bottom (and a 4"x2" hole in the bottom of the boat is not ideal) and the mast was a bit too soft for a heavy helm.  I also managed to snap off the tiller from the stock (but to be fair I did fall on it).

It had/has the potential to fill a gap in the market for a heavyweights hiking single hander, other than of course the Finn and Phantom.  It was just so easy to sail and I thought it was very well priced. A lot of boat for the money.

The Dinghy Store at Datchet worked hard at marketing it and provided a great after sales service, but for some unknown reason it never really took off. 

Interesting the megabyte got picked up, as with the new rig I think the Byte is a cracking boat for lightweight helms.  All the annoying things about the laser solved (mostly!) a really nice rig, light weight to haul up the slip way and really responsive to sailor input.  There are thousands of them in Canda yet they've never really taken off here.  I wonder if topper aren't too keen on pushing them as the weight range overlaps massively with the original topper which must have a much higher margins!

I've sailed the EPS a couple of times and its excellent, its just that it competes with some other good boats like the 300, Blaze and Phantom and it wasn't cheap - although that's not been a problem for the Phantom.

I've never sailed an MX Ray but it looks unpromising, probably great off the beach in a blow, but its tiny, so small sail area, very little leverage and precious little bouyancy.  Very much a boat for one type of condition, however full marks for inovation.

As a Blaze fanatic I am biased of course - but the most under-rated boat in the UK by a country mile has to be the Tasar.  Let down by half-hearted manufacturers in Europe soon after it was launched in the 70's it is a design classic and is today still way ahead of the general lack lustre 2 man design thread in so many ways.  Just ask yourself how can it be so fast, easy to sail,  and so refined compared with the current smod and other offerings in its market niche ....  only 2 sails but almost as fast as a merlin and it planes upwind without wings, excessive sail area or trapeze.  If you have ever sailed one you might know what I mean - and if you have not and are looking for a simple performance 2 man flyer just try one....  it defies a lot of the marketing hype flying around out there with ease.

Blaze 720

I borrowed a Tasar when we had the worlds at our club - 100 boat fleet.

Very nice boat and now they have the new sails it look very "now".

Rick

I would not call 100 boats a small fleet ... just because it's not that big in the UK it dosn't mean it is not a big class.

I think the new rig gives it a new lease of life and it's a great boat to sail with a small crew and is a nice fast boat for those who don't fancy the kite.

Rick

The mast on the Tasar is unchanged - its just the sails that are a new material for long life and better value.  They also look very modern.   The rotating mast is two piece and has a flexible top.  The aluminium mast section is a short wing type with a very special trailing edge.  Add to this the fully battened main and the result is a very efficient rig.  Its probably all a bit too expensive to put on a modern SMOD class when you can get the same performance boost by adding an asymmetric kite. 

Tasars are neat boats and definately overlooked in the UK

A really good class over here is the NS14. The Tasar is basically a 1970s NS14 which was made into a one design.

Check out their web site on http://www.ns14.org/ - http://www.ns14.org/  

Interestingly they look like they are starting to pick them up in the US. Like the Tasar they are a good family boat with no trapeze or kite.  

"The 368 looks like one of the neatest boats of its type, the trouble is this is a crowded sector of the market. The Streaker, Byte, Comet, 368, Solo, Brit Moth etc would benefit from working together more, in my opinion."

I agree. Trouble is, "Slow sail" isn't quite as catchy as the name the spinnakered trapeze boats have come up with! I've owned or sailed all the above boats bar the Streaker (would love to) and currently own a British Moth which is 1/2 way through a rebuild. Short notice, but maybe reps from these classes should get together at the show and discuss joint events and publicity?

Agreed! except about the 368 being neatest!, but at least it has a bolt rope! In fact the 368 the Byte and another single hander shared their inland championships last year.  This is the way foward I think for all these smaller classes.  In fact the Byte, 368, Streaker, Solo, Europe and Laser 4.7 are so similar on handicap you might as well race them together.

The Tasar, designed by Frank Bethwaite weighs 60 Kg planes up wind in 12 Knots has new rig with sails from Neil Pryde ala 29er and 59er style and has a PY of 1023

It is one of the fastest two sail boats and certainly one of the most comfortable. 35 boats at Nationals with new importer see the boat at the Dinghy show

Does any body remember what happened to the Flying Junior???

I know there is still an active class in the US (found it in the web) but I only have hazy childhood memories of watching one zoom around at WKSC!

It never caught on much in Britain, probebly because it had to fight against the Enterprise at exactly the same length and sail area.

There is one at the Student Sailing Club in Aberystwyth, where they had a fleet of them in the 60's. Rumour has it they mostly sank...

I believe there are still plenty in Holland and Germany as wel las the US. In the US you get club and international FJ's like they have club and internationel 420s. 'Club' versions dont use the spiniker or trapeze

I think it is much more than that. see link:

http://www.ifjo.org - http://www.ifjo.org   We have a few here in TW and it is fantastic. A junior version of the FD which, a bit like the OK, tries to replicate the developments of its bigger sister with cost aforethought. I think it never caught on in the UK because the FD was never so strong at a lower level. Also we had established youth classes which the parents are never keen to change (the laser 2 vs 420 battle springs to mind) and I think most importantly, at that time anyway, the UK always does the exact opposite of Europe.

It was/is our loss - it is fast, demanding and highly technical.

I think it was more the sailors and the large stone pier that kept on jumping out at them, rather than the boats...having said that, the rather over built GP 14's are still floating (if not much else) after 25 years of abuse!

As an ex-FJ owner, I have to say it was a great little boat, light and responsive to sail, and a lot more fun than a 420, which is probably the best comparison. The class is still very strong in the US, but also in Europe. Much like the FD, really, big fleets and much-loved just about everywhere except here!

BTW, the Javelin was designed as a training boat for the FD!! Got to agree, though, it's a cracker in its own right.

Neil

There are two Marauders at Sutton Bingham(yeovil) owned by the same person. He was racing last weekend.

If you want a cheap boat with performance and a challenge try the Hornet. We picked up a reasonable one on a combi for £500. One v good suit of sails and one not so good. Ok it needs some cosmetic work on the varnish but we have sailed her all winter and will tidy her up when the sun shines. She should be competetive with the rest of the fleet so we cant blame the boat anymore.

Dont forget to visit the TASAR stand and see one of sailings best kept secrets

Light, fast 1023 and only two sails

Dont forget to visit the TASAR stand  at the dinghy show and see one of sailings best kept secrets

Light, fast PY1023 and only two sails

Yes Yes I know, but she is so shy and its, ooh so cold for out-door photos. She has, however, promised to do a shoot  and wrap herself in our new trannies (mylar Sails) so keep an eye on the Tasar web site!!

 She's  also promised to come and have some of our Tasar birthday cake on Saturday  at the dinghy show ,so do come over and have a nibble with her . You will also get to see  the great new imported Tasars from Aussie with their sexy new  trannies.

Tasar : sailings best kept secret

Ps my "other boat is a Blaze" "  528 Cutting edge of cocking about " and no I didn't try a 300

And here's me in my boat, not super exciting I know but better than text.

No, Jim is quite right. The cherub, by John Spencer, spawned a longer version, the Javelin, which was the basis for the Tasar, Bethwaite adapting lines to suit his design brief.

I KNOW!!!!!

How would you describe a 14ft offshoot of a 12ft class?

12ft to 14ft = stretching it!

lol,  just a little.

 i didn't know the tasar and the javelin came from the cherub

so what you really mean to say is you regullarly meet at a randomly selected destinatation. talk about cherubs a lot and sl*g off smod classes while getting drunk

sounds like fun

the hurricane 5.9 is in my opinion a under rated boat in todays market,

it has so much going for it, cheap 2nd hand prices, great build quality, large nationals (50), great fleet, option to go 3 sail and stay same handicap + many many more!!

what are u on about?  laser stoped production years ago

by any chance do u mean the vortex?

I have great memories of my parents' Jolly Boat in Chichester Harbour.

Planed beautifully but the genoa took a lot of getting in.

Now I'm in an Osprey which is close....

Best boat I ever sailed (and owned in fact) was a Jacksnipe, Jack Holt's answer to the Fireball.

Exciting, easy to sail and easily the best behaved boat I've known when capsized. It had a double-bottom with footwells for the helm, would sit indefinitely on its side without turtling yet self-drained just fine when up again. Poor build quality and poor marketing let it down though.

Closest thing today is the 3000, easy-peasy, but great fun. I gather the V3000 with its sealed mast is also reluctant to turtle.

The vortex is not a cat its a tunnel hull, a cat by definition has two hulls, and im sure the last time I looked the vortex only had one.

Yes i'm a cat sailor but i have also sailed the vortex as my old crew had one as a toy they do handle a bit like a cat and some of the techniques used in cat sailing do work well on the vortex but when you get half the hull out the water they dont go any faster where one hull out the water on a cat sure makes a big difference in terms of speed.

and as with the EPS the vortex has some build issues IMHO

ps cut my teeth racing ents and fireballs many moons ago and for what its worth the fire brick was and still is a great boat to sail.

Its definitely a cat, albeit a small one.  I'll eat my hat if that hull works effectively as a lift device (far too much weight, too big a gap and not aerodynamic enough).  They're not as bad as people make out, but it is definitely a cat.

I would call the red moth here a tunnel hull mono http://images.google.com/imgres?imgurl=http://www.tsca.net/images/Tassie/ODMoth615.jpg&imgrefurl=http://www.tsca.net/Tassie2.html&h=216&w=350&sz=25&hl=en&start=9&tbnid=CfnEg5GiNRlqwM:&tbnh=71&tbnw=116&prev=/images%3Fq%3Dscow%2Bmoth%26svnum%3D10%26hl%3Den%26lr%3D%26sa%3DN - http://images.google.com/imgres?imgurl=http://www.tsca.net/i mages/Tassie/ODMoth615.jpg&imgrefurl=http://www.tsca.net /Tassie2.html&h=216&w=350&sz=25&hl=en&st art=9&tbnid=CfnEg5GiNRlqwM:&tbnh=71&tbnw=116& ;prev=/images%3Fq%3Dscow%2Bmoth%26svnum%3D10%26hl%3Den%26lr% 3D%26sa%3DN  but even then others might claim its a cat.