J24 (Sail No. 4239) Dartmouth |
Laurent Giles 'Jolly Boat' Exeter |
29er GBR 074 Tynemouth |
List classes of boat for sale |
Older Classes With Modern Rigs |
Post Reply | Page 123 7> |
Author | |
rich96
Really should get out more Joined: 20 Jan 05 Online Status: Offline Posts: 596 |
Post Options
Quote Reply
Topic: Older Classes With Modern Rigs Posted: 25 Jun 20 at 12:03pm |
Following easing of the lockdown I've had the pleasure of sailing (rather than just racing) a Finn, OK and Albacore
These are all very old classes but with modern adjustable rigs All 3 are a delight to sail compared to some of the more recent designs. Is this just that they have been hugely developed over the years or just that they were always great boats - hence their continuing popularity ? None of them are light but that perform well in the light or breeze and are just 'nice' to sail Maybe its the 'non skiff' way that they sail that works ? |
|
JimC
Really should get out more Joined: 17 May 04 Location: United Kingdom Online Status: Offline Posts: 6648 |
Post Options Quote Reply Posted: 25 Jun 20 at 12:21pm |
Or maybe that's just your preferred style of boat?
|
|
423zero
Really should get out more Joined: 08 Jan 15 Location: United Kingdom Online Status: Offline Posts: 3406 |
Post Options Quote Reply Posted: 25 Jun 20 at 12:24pm |
Designers have to design something that will sell, true then and today, for every old class their were probably 10 that didn't last.
|
|
Robert
|
|
Sam.Spoons
Really should get out more Joined: 07 Mar 12 Location: Manchester UK Online Status: Offline Posts: 3398 |
Post Options Quote Reply Posted: 25 Jun 20 at 1:14pm |
I sailed an OK as a 'yoof' and thought it was a great boat back then (even with a wooden mast). Foam sandwich hulls and carbon fibre spars won't have done any harm to the performance and sailing manners so I'd think it's mostly because those old designs were well though out, conservative but not too conservative. Min weight for an OK is 72kg, same as the Blaze so no, not super light, but not a porker either.
|
|
Spice 346 "Flat Broke"
Blaze 671 "supersonic soap dish" |
|
iGRF
Really should get out more Joined: 07 Mar 11 Location: Hythe Online Status: Offline Posts: 6496 |
Post Options Quote Reply Posted: 25 Jun 20 at 1:30pm |
72 kg? Not a porker? What is it with you people and your casual acceptance of ridiculously heavy old tubs, they had no choice back then, we have a choice now, no wonder the Aero just obliterated new boat sales. 102 kg for a bloody Contender. In the real world it is AGAINST THE LAW for folk to be forced to lift over 32kg in the work place, why does everyone think it's OK to do it in our leisure?
|
|
423zero
Really should get out more Joined: 08 Jan 15 Location: United Kingdom Online Status: Offline Posts: 3406 |
Post Options Quote Reply Posted: 25 Jun 20 at 1:59pm |
Sales must be bad, Aero were only achieving 5 a week last year.
|
|
Robert
|
|
H2
Really should get out more Joined: 26 Jul 17 Online Status: Offline Posts: 749 |
Post Options Quote Reply Posted: 25 Jun 20 at 2:30pm |
And much of that was people replacing original boats which are now knackered! They are cheap for a reason
|
|
H2 #115 (sold)
H2 145 OK 2082 |
|
H2
Really should get out more Joined: 26 Jul 17 Online Status: Offline Posts: 749 |
Post Options Quote Reply Posted: 25 Jun 20 at 2:55pm |
its a good point though that classes like the Finn and OK are just really nice boats made better by modern rigs. I do wonder if they would be made even nicer if they went further and used modern materials for the hulls too!
|
|
H2 #115 (sold)
H2 145 OK 2082 |
|
rich96
Really should get out more Joined: 20 Jan 05 Online Status: Offline Posts: 596 |
Post Options Quote Reply Posted: 25 Jun 20 at 3:07pm |
In reality nobody looks at the Aero and swoons - its a butt ugly beach boat with a butt ugly rig
However - people like it It will be interesting to see if the Aero proves a durable as Lasers (loads of old Lasers still sail around at weekends going roughly the same speed as newer ones and don't fall apart). I suspect not ? Its such a shame they didn't put an attractive rig on it. The high boom looks beach club style all the way |
|
KazRob
Far too distracted from work Joined: 22 Oct 16 Location: Scotland Online Status: Offline Posts: 245 |
Post Options Quote Reply Posted: 25 Jun 20 at 3:23pm |
It's a balance. The OK isn't the lightest thing around, but it is tough as old boots and it's rare to see any breakages at all. The also last forever. You could no doubt make it half the weight, but would it make it a better boat? Possibly, but it would certainly make it more fragile and maybe reduce the competitive life. At the last worlds the 3rd place boat was a (very well sailed) 30yr old glass hull with a modern carbon rig, however most current boats are epoxy foam sandwich so fairly modern. The surprising new trend however is heading back to the dinghy boom with home built wooden boats, but this time built using laser cut kits that slot together in a jig and get epoxy filleted together. It's a good use of one of the best sustainable materials there is (wood) and again at the last worlds there were 2-3 home built boats in the top 10 so it's not a slow choice either.
On the question of why are these old boats so nice to sail, IMO any class that has had a long period of even slight development gets nicer, more balanced and more refined as time goes on. Those with very fixed rules (SMODs) don't take long to look old fashioned as new developments come in. Of course the other important factor is the class themselves. It's dead easy to design a new 'better' boat, but building and sustaining a successful class is much, much harder. |
|
OK 2249
D-1 138 |
|
Post Reply | Page 123 7> |
Forum Jump | Forum Permissions You cannot post new topics in this forum You cannot reply to topics in this forum You cannot delete your posts in this forum You cannot edit your posts in this forum You cannot create polls in this forum You cannot vote in polls in this forum |