Small boats at boot Düsseldorf!

by Mark Jardine 24 Jan 19:16 GMT 18-26 January 2025

Hall 15 at boot Düsseldorf has some really interesting small boats, so Mark Jardine took a look around to see what he could find.

We start with the Pegasus, a single person electric foiler with a fuselage like a vintage Formula One car, and would really stand out at one of the Italian Lakes, such as Garda or Como. We then moved on to the Birdyfish, two-handed foiling dinghy, which looks like a cross between a Fireball dinghy and an IMOCA keelboat, complete with jib and code zero headsails.

If you're short of storage space, the Tiwal range of dinghies could be the thing for you. Inflatable hulls mean that the boat can be kept in a pair of bags, rather than taking up a dinghy park space. Or if ownership is out of reach, the the day charter option for the RS AIRA dayboat could suit you. The boat has plenty of socialising space and an electric engine, and the charter model makes it very interesting for getting people into sailing.

We then take a look at a Class Mini, which is the starting option for many of the stars of the offshore solo sailing world, including the Vendée Globe. The Mini at boot had a very distinct scow bow, which has become more and more popular over the past decade.

The Ovington Boats stand included Matt Wearn's gold medal winning ILCA from Paris 2024, a K1 dinghy, a 29er, and both the VX One and VX Two on it.

We finish up with Projekt Vela, which sees teams of students race in boats they have designed and built themselves, using 75% sustainable or natural materials.