Dinghy development: 49er Lite

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49er Lite

Printed From: Yachts and Yachting Online
Category: Dinghy classes
Forum Name: Dinghy development
Forum Discription: The latest moves in the dinghy market
URL: http://www.yachtsandyachting.com/forum/forum_posts.asp?TID=8261
Printed Date: 20 Jan 26 at 10:37am
Software Version: Web Wiz Forums 9.665y - http://www.webwizforums.com

Topic: 49er Lite

Posted By: ellistine
Subject: 49er Lite
Date Posted: 07 Sep 11 at 2:10pm

Would a 49er with a cut down sail plan make a good alternative to a RS 800 for club racing? There seems to be a lot of cheep 49ers out there.

Replies:

Posted By: RS400atC
Date Posted: 07 Sep 11 at 2:38pm

Maybe a smaller kite?
Seriously changing the rig would be hard to get right.
Bargain speed machine might be the B14?

Posted By: laser193713
Date Posted: 07 Sep 11 at 3:00pm

having sailed both boats, the 49er is not really that much harder to sail... A lot of the cheap 49ers are not worth touching in my experience, I know a few people who have bought cheap boats and they really weren't worth the effort!

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Posted By: ellistine
Date Posted: 07 Sep 11 at 3:08pm

Mmm. Just had a realisation. Crew plays the mainsheet. I doubt the wife will think much of that. Back to the 800 at some point then.

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Posted By: G.R.F.
Date Posted: 07 Sep 11 at 3:19pm

I believe there's an 800 for sale at our club following a bit of a divorce between Dumb and Dumberer..

It looked in quite nice nick last time I saw it, having said that I've not been around for a fortnight so that could have changed..

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Posted By: Chris Turner
Date Posted: 07 Sep 11 at 3:46pm

Talk to Colin Goodman, he has a 49er, sails with his wife and has a cut down mainsail.

I guess there will be more 49ers on the secondhand list soon as guys drop off the 2012 campaign trail in the next few months....

Posted By: robinft
Date Posted: 08 Sep 11 at 10:57am

Colin and Amanda are using the new big rig now, but I think Colin has always handled the mainsheet.

Posted By: Chris Turner
Date Posted: 08 Sep 11 at 12:19pm

He has the new bigger rig, but also has a cut down mainsail for it.

Posted By: hollandsd
Date Posted: 08 Sep 11 at 1:06pm

Originally posted by G.R.F.

I believe there's an 800 for sale at our club following a bit of a divorce between Dumb and Dumberer..

It looked in quite nice nick last time I saw it, having said that I've not been around for a fortnight so that could have changed..

Yeah the boat is in good nick and up for sale

Dan

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Laser 184084
Tasar 3501
RS600 698
RS600 782

Posted By: simon hiscocks
Date Posted: 08 Sep 11 at 11:39pm

go chris spill the beans....

Posted By: Chris Turner
Date Posted: 09 Sep 11 at 9:10am

No beans...Colin sails with his Wife and wanted to cut a sail down to fit the rig for when the breeze is up.

He did this with the old style rig too.

Posted By: Menace
Date Posted: 09 Sep 11 at 7:33pm

Haha, think I know what Simon's hinting to, if it is, I'd do it!

Posted By: Chris Turner
Date Posted: 10 Sep 11 at 8:16am

What?

Posted By: Menace
Date Posted: 10 Sep 11 at 8:40pm

Rock up to the 1SAF female skiff selection with a 29erXX and a 49er with a slightly less powerful rig...

To me a "49er lite" makes a lot of sense, same equipment apart from rig and sails. Would be like the Laser and Laser Radial. If RS are going to do a "baby 49er", why not do a proper 49er for women? Bonus is you guys have the supply and support background already there on the 9ers and it would be a lower risk to select something that has been proven already. You'll double your chances forwarding two boats....

Posted By: Lukepiewalker
Date Posted: 10 Sep 11 at 11:17pm

I wasn't going to mention it, but does no one remember the 49er sport rig?

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Ex-Finn GBR533 "Pie Hard"
Ex-National 12 3253 "Seawitch"
Ex-National 12 2961 "Curved Air"
Ex-Mirror 59096 "Voodoo Chile"

Posted By: Menace
Date Posted: 12 Sep 11 at 6:07pm

I think Ben McGrane had a Sports rig a while back but can't remember 100 percent.

I may be being a bit simple here, but when they did the rig upgrade on the 49er, they said they had to up the sail area to compensate for the drop in mast weight to allow the competitive weight range to stay the same and not drop to circa 130kg. Using that logic, you could have a similar sail area to the old tin rig but with a carbon rig and that would be okay for the girls.

I'd update the sail profile a little ie square head main and maybe slightly flatter sails but keep the same kite. Then you'd have a boat comparible with the 49er for the girls. The main contender in my eyes is the RS900 at the moment. Being blunt and I hate to say it, I don't see the 29erXX coming close as I think if it was the right boat, more people would be sailing it by now. I could imagine if they released the 900 tomorrow, you'd have people flocking from the 800 and people like me queing up to place an order. If there was a "lite" rig for the 49er, bang, theres the answer to the 900. Could be horribly wrong but this is just my gut instinct.

Posted By: Chris Turner
Date Posted: 13 Sep 11 at 9:45am

I guess we are all going to have to wait and see what comes around.......

Posted By: 17mika
Date Posted: 13 Sep 11 at 1:45pm

Originally posted by Menace

I think Ben McGrane had a Sports rig a while back but can't remember 100 percent.

I can't see how a small rig 49er could fit for girls. For instance, I think it would be veeery difficult for a 110/115 kg crew to right such boat in a breeze. IMHO If Bethwaite really wanted to make the "perfect skiff" for girls, he would need to create a totally new boat. I own an XX and it's a pretty nice boat, but of course it' still a compromise (and the 29er hull is not exactly built for the sole purpose of performance); I share your view that the rs900 is likely to be the best boat in the trial. We'll see next year what it's going to matter (performance, diffusion, pricing, politics, etc..) in the trials.

back on topic, a friend of mine for the old 49er rig ordered to a local sailmaker a "bat-style" main, cut down between battens, but he told me that the result wasn't great.

I can't wait to see