So, theres an RS200 for sale near me, and that class does have a fine reputation. Does the RS200 have any well known problems with the hull or rig? What to look for when inspecting it?

For an asy boat, they are terribly slow.

Even slower than their PY suggests.

Their PY and reputatiuon is boosted by many very good younger sailors sailing them in strong breeze.

The 400 is a far better boat unless you are on the small side and want to sail in near gales.

There was an article in the RS class mag some years back showing the build process for a 200. The words 'brush and bucket' are apt. A lot of these boats are overweight, leak,have gone soft etc. They used to be inexpensive and many of them have had hard lives doing a lot of road miles on the circuit.

The sails have been upgraded in recent years.

RS Rudder blades of a certain vintage had a rep for cracking, even breaking below the stock.

Good point the website still quotes 78kg for the hull weight but that must be before the fit it out and add the pole, thwart etc ... not what most of us would consider the definition of hull weight.

Says on their website that the sailing weight is 114kg so that is another 36kg of stuff on top of the hull ...

For an occasional 2 hander I'd go with a National 12 or Tasar, both far more pleasing to sail and a lot easier to pull up the beach afterwards.

The 200 PY isn't actually that good in breeze, short hull, draggy main, small spinnaker and fairly heavy hull make it hard work upwind and slow down. Ever thought the youths that sail the boat well in wind are...you know...pretty good?

Its only sweet spot is the medium range between 5-10 knots when you're in full power mode.

The gunwale hung trolleys are only an issue on the newer ones. The benefit of the gunwale hung when done right is it removes the dents you get on the bottom of the hull when sat on a cradle for years. 

A lot depends on what you will be race against, at some clubs you'll be in the 'medium' fleet mostly racing against singlehanders.

What courses you get will make a difference too, if you get a lot of reaches at just the right angle and no proper leeward legs, any asy suddenly looks good. If you get a lot of  runs, boats of similar PY and a proper kite will go direct and be all over you.

Some boats don't really play nicely in a mixed handicap race, IMHO the best reason to be buying one is to race against others of the same design.

Of course if you really don't care about the results, you may find any boat with a kite is more fun than one without. But then there are many other classes in the genre for less cash, if that matters?

Making a boat that size and weight with the gunwhales not up to a gunwhale-hung trolley sounds like an epic fail.

Crew weights for Tasar and 200 are near identical. 

The RS 200 is popular because it hooked into the asymmetric boom of the late 90s and with the RS marketing budget it managed to squash the traditional couples classes. 

Internationally the RS200 is non-existent. The Tasar has much more international profile in AUS, USA and JPN. Shame it hasn’t had the commercial backing in Europe as it would better serve couples sailing in the UK as it does overseas.  

Dunno where you got that data from; looked like a average guy and his young daughter ...

The 3rd was RS200 champion James Peters so I'd guess they are similar weight carriers.

Either way they are only say 5% different which is close enough for most club sailors.

Anyway for most I'd say similar. Plus the Tasar has the benefit that an average couple can actually pull it up the beach without too much strain.

The hey day for couples sailing was when the Ents and 12s had huge fleets at clubs and championships.

Simple boats that novices can jump into and crew ... the introduction of spinnakers into this category of boat has driven away the casual participant ...

Clubs need boats that allow couples to sail and to be able to introduce kids and beginners. Spinnakers don't help that; they may please the experts but for accessibility to the sport they are a hinderance.

Im guessing that's part of the reason why assymetrics are more popular than sym kites, the learning curve is somewhat shallower for assy. But agreed that they are not beginner friendly boats. If it was more acceptable to sail without the kite and request a suitably amended PN that would solve the problem to a great extent.

Yeah, but that just highlights a lack of skill that some would find embarrassing ... affordable, easy to use and lightweight equipment is what we need for making the sport more accessible.

I look at the Tasar as a modern Enterprise ... which was highly popular once upon a time ...

The way the manufactures have developed the boats is a bit of an own goal IMHO. 

I tried the RS200 when they first came out, my overall impression was that if you cannot achieve a ratio between sail area and weight that facilitates apparent wind sailing, then the assymetric spinni is a waste of time.  Though in defence of the RS200 it does seem to offer the best one design racing for mixed weight/age combos, with a thriving open meeting and nationals circuit.

I think its more a factor that the RS marketing machine and their excellent events schedule and parties in the 90s and 00s was second to none  ... that was a bigger factor in the popularity than the equipment.

There is a decent fleet of tasar and 200s at HISC, but not much crossover, whereas quite a few of the tasar sailor are or were recently in merlins. So the weight difference between the two is significant enough for the average sailor at club level and enough difference for the two to cohabit the same club happily. 

Generally my point is, if you're 115-135 kilo, then a 200 is probably as fast as you will go whilst staying competitive) without sticking a trapeze on. 

I do sympathize with the evaluation of the 200 not really hitting it's PY inland, and it's actually still quite difficult in most places unless you have broad reaches. The spinnaker makes for interesting racing, but if you judge it by laps times only then it's a very questionable addition. At the endeavour Stu Bithell did away with it and straight lined the shore doing quite nicely, the laser boys gained a few boat doing the same. 

However, I am not sure the tasar is an obvious solution to the 200s deficiencies. It really sticks below 7 knots and a 200 will beat it on most points of sail except dead downwind. The 200 kite can be frustrating in fluky light conditions and constricted waters, the the Tasars tacking mast and sliding shrouds, plus the mainsheet / traveller set up can make the repetitive tacks and gybes quite the task. 

The Ent really is a great boat in that regard, simple and effective. However, the class really seems to have dropped away (except in looe!). The 12 is also great, but has an ideal weight below that of the 200. 

All in all the 200 is fairly quick, certainly in terms of average speed if not time around a course! It's quite robust and not as heavy as similar more 'training' orientated configurations. There are a few niggles to watch out for which I went through in my first reply. 

My advice to the OP would be to read everyone's opinions back though the thread - albeit in my view excessively negative - and decide if the areas highlighted as poor will be a problem. 

Depending on the price it may well be worth a punt regardless as i've never known anyone struggle to sell a decent 200. If this one has hung around there might be a reason.

There is no perfect classs!

1) Crew weight ideally around 130kg. That is a good fit for me and MrsMA42, or my son, (MA17??) and crew

2) RS200 may not be competitve on PY. Not an issue, its more for fun racing. I'm not competitive in the Radial either!

3) The hull is sturdy and will give long service

4) We are on the Thames Estuary (Leigh-on-Sea), so the course shapes can vary dramatically week by week depending on wind direction. So some weeks the RS200 will shine, and other it wont. I don't really care, its about fun racing.

Thanks all for your contributions, keep them coming

Have a great time, and keep out the Mud. 200 should fine to pull up the slips onto the racks.

Cheers

Gordon

lived at Leigh on sea until I was 18. and ex member of the club.