Grafham D-Zero Demo Day

I was told it was a members only day!  People don't just make these things up.

I'm a Grafham member, I knew about the open day because they borrowed a Sailability boat to give rides in.  I didn't know about the demos until the last minute.  For the previously arranged one they actually circulated the information after the demo was meant to happen.  The previous demo was intended for members only.

Originally posted by craiggo As an avid sailing geek who likes to be aware of what's going on, I have to admit to having seen very little in way of advertising for the event. From what I've seen, all the other demo days at smaller clubs have had sufficient numbers to keep the boats on the water all day, with little advertising from the manufacturers. So either Grafham don't have many interested parties within the club, in which case why hold a demo day unless you are going to advertise wider, or the manufacturers/dealers assumed that Grafham would draw people in for them as its often touted as being one of the best inland waterways (albeit a tad soulless).

"Having seen very little...." - you either saw something or you didn't.

I understand an earlier RS-Aero demo day, subsequently cancelled, was advertised as members only. I have no idea why that was, and would see it as a perfect opportunity to attract potential new members.

Anybody with a serious interest in the D-Zero or RS-Aero would have had little difficulty finding out about the open demo day on Saturday 29th June, it was advertised in a timely manner and both manufacturers were obviously aware of it.

In the event, Sunday was a significantly better day in terms of breeze (10 - 14kts) and the D-Zeros were on the water continuously from 10:00 until 17:00. This resulted in 3 orders being placed for the D-Zero, one of them being for myself. I suspect that Devoti Sailing / Suntouched Sailboats, at least, are pleased with the return on their investment over the week-end.

You are indeed correct concerning Grafham Water being a great stretch of inland water, with the ability to set 3 championship courses concurrently, and with limited topographical impact.



Edited by sandgrounder - 02 Jul 14 at 8:32am

Originally posted by jeffers Plus if you look at the Y&Y banner the 7th June date for Grafham for the D-Zero does clearly state Members Only

Maybe, but that was cancelled, so a moot point. Saturday 28th June was an open demo day, end of story.

All 3 D-Zeros will be based at Grafham Water, and there is significant interest to build on that initial batch. You would be very welcome to come and join us over the winter, very attractive winter rates.


Edited by sandgrounder - 02 Jul 14 at 8:44am

Originally posted by Punky   I have seen D Zero demo dates advertised but I haven't seen any UK Aero dates published anywhere.  I'm not sure how anyone knows how/where to try one - am I blind?  I even had a deposit down on one and still didn't get any info.  Yes, I know I could have contacted them, but I'm not sure the punter should have to do the chasing! .