The RS100 Owners Thread

Having sailed both new boats, I think they deserve a bit of hype as they have moved the game on in slightly different ways and after 40 years of the laser and its one regatta use tin pole, its about time.

It will be interesting to see in 18 months time how many of these boats have been sold, but I can't remember the last time I heard about so many new 10+ boat plus fleets being started, so clearly there was a wish for a change. Lets hope they both turn out to be fully developed, robust and good to sail in all conditions. 

If Jim's idea of hype is few enthusiasts sharing their enthusiasm on the internet, then frankly he's not living in the same world as the rest of us; and being just a tad hypocritical.  He's also being a little disingenuous- this is a dinghy development thread, and sometimes development means simplification and efficiency, not yet another marketing gimmick or some development boat elitist 'game changer' that cosigns 90% of their fleet to the history books of uncompetitiveness.     

When it comes to Devoti and Suntouched, there's certainly no commercial hype, or company released videos showing someone lifting it to the water windsurf stylee (like to see it in a good F4 cross/off), and others released, therefore endorsing bold claims about upwind planing.  And Designer Dan, lovely bloke, but not a natural salesman, which probably goes in his favour for any 'early adopters' with the burn scars. 

The D-Zero, is, in my opinion the anthesis of hype - it's nothing more than a Laser with the turds polished out.  It's a nice little boat, other than trying to get enough people together to give it some legs, and a certain amount 'so simple it's refreshing', I can't see where there's any hype whatsoever... if anything it could probably do with a bit more, but then that's not Rodney style, he'd rather drag them around the country and let people make their own minds up from sailing it than commission a professional videographer and some Facebook credit.

Well said Simon, the 'hype' (if you want to brand it as that) has, on the whole, come from people who actually own the boat(s) and rightly so. I love my D-Zero, it has re-ignited my love of sailing. Had it not come along and had i not got one then it is likely I would have stopped sailing.