The speedfeet 18 is another interesting boat I’ve found online. It’s site is in French (paste the url into google for a translation option) so it’s hard to make sure I’m understanding everything correctly. It appears they offer a dingy and keel option (the dinghy having a centerboard). The boat is very similar to the open 5.70 and they are both French. The open has slightly more upwind sail area (and more weight in a deeper keel) and a tad less sail area downwind.
I like the look of the open a bit better overall, but there are a few ideas implemented on the speedfeet that are interesting. It’s mainsheet comes forward which might work better (I need to sail an open so I can see how the aft mainsheet works for me). The huge difference though is that the spinnaker hoist is about halfway between the jib and the top of the mast on the speedfeet while it’s much closer to the jib on the open. This gives the speed feet a larger downwind sail area by ~70²’ (always a good thing) but more importantly a better shape to their A sail. I’m not a huge fan of broad shouldered chutes to squeeze sail area into a short space, I’d much rather see a mast head that’s narrow….
Continue reading ‘Speedfeet 18′
The bongo is another interesting boat. It’s nothing we would consider for actually racing for me and Dad as we’d be way too heavy, but it’s a fun concept. It’s a 15′ sportboat designed by Paul Cronin. He’s from RI and kept a Bongo at Sail Newport while I had my Vector there. The concept here is a inexpensive 15′ sportboat for one. The idea is really fantastic, but the execution leaves a bit lacking for me.
First the jib was clearly and afterthought. I saw the boat in development w/o a jib, and I think the original boats were sold initially with only mains and spinnakers. When the jib was added, it was done so in a way that makes it look like and afterthought unfortunately. My issue is the sailplan upwind looks a bit odd. The main dominates it and the jib just looks too small. Continue reading ‘Bongo’
The melges 17 is another cool little boat. It’s not on our list for 2 main reasons. The first is that it’s basically a dingy because (like all scows) there is no ballast. So you’re hiking to keep it flat. Second, is also because of the round nose all scows have. So basically, if it wasn’t a scow, it would be close to perfect for us.
What it is though is an awesome little boat for 2 people to rip in. It’s got a huge asymmetrical spinnaker with a chute tube and a roller furling jib so it’s very easy to handle. Weighing in at only 300lbs, it looks to be a screamer. I’d love to get out on one, but it seems we never see any scows here in RI. Too bad really because I’d bet they would be perfect in the bay.
Continue reading ‘Melges 17′
Our last boat was a viper 830. My Dad and I decided to sell the etchells and vector to get the viper as a fun boat to sail together (I hated the etchells downwind and he couldn’t sail on the vector). So we looked into some sportboats and the viper was our solution. We ended up tracking down High Voltage in Ohio and bought it and drove it home. The boat is a lot of fun, and can be very fast (our speed record was ~26kts, we know the speed-o was a little high, but it was probably a 20kt run).
Of course no boat is perfect and the viper was no different in that regard. First we had to stiffen up the doghouse of the boat, as it would flex when you stood on it. Second the pintle was loose and we had to cut it off the boat to fix it. Nothing serious. We also added a forward hatch for setting and dousing the spinnaker which was very nice. Continue reading ‘Viper 830′
One of the boats we used to own was a Vanguard Vector. It’s definately not a sportboat. It’s a skiff. Nikki and I had a blast on this boat, but it was very wet and a lot of work. It’s a dual trapeze boat designed to be between a 29er and 49er with the ideal crew weight around 300lbs. The boat was rigged very well (simply), but it did have one huge design flaw in my mind.
The huge design flaw was that it would tip over at the dock WITHOUT any sails up. I know it’s because it’s a rounded narrow hull and a tall rig. As soon as the rig would lean over the water over the boat went. In less than 5 seconds unattended the boat would be on it’s side. Continue reading ‘Vanguard Vector’
This was originally posted on my personal blog on September 9th, 2007. I’ve put it up here with today’s date since it would mess up the archive here to backdate it. Enjoy!
We’re working on selling our Viper 830. We want to get into something a bit smaller to facilitate rigging and sailing with less people. The 830 requires at least 3 people to rig and or sail and a truck to move due to it’s 2,200lb weight. The Viper 640 is one of the top options for something in the 20′ range as a replacement (the Melges 20, Laser SB3, and Open 5.70 are the other options). I got a chance to go up to Marblehead on Saturday and race 3 fall series races with a few of the boats. It’s a very relaxed series in the fall with only a few boats going out (but 20+ Sonars due to their upcoming worlds) but it was still a blast. I had contacted Justin Scott, the class president and asked when he could get me out on the boat. Saturday worked and we had a great time. 3 races, we got a 1st (we think the finish was +- 2′ between us and second!), a wire to wire first, and a wire to wire second. It was a great time, and they are fantastic little boats. It was interesting to see how much work hiking is again (you actively hike upwind, even in the ~12knots true we had). Continue reading ‘Viper 640 test sail’
The RS K6 is another option that was brought to my attention by the guys down at American Yacht Club in Rye NY. They were looking for a new small ~20′ sportboat for one design racing at the club. They didn’t care what anyone else had because they would be purchasing enough for an instant fleet anyway. I had gotten in touch with Jim and he invited me down for the test sail when they had a few RSs there but before they had decided it was the boat for them. Justin Scott also brought his Viper down so it was my first opportunity to see that boat as well. Continue reading ‘RS K6′
Another option for us is the Laser SB3. This boat has been a huge success over in the UK, and Vanguard was finally bought out by the UK laser people, so we’re now getting them in the US this year. I’ve seen 2 parked behind Vanguard already last fall and I’ve seen one out doing some test sailing in Newport. I’ve been in contact with their salesperson and I’m eagerly awaiting a May test sail.
The boat is pretty interesting. It’s a big heavier than the other options and has a huge kite to make up for it. There are strict no hiking rules which sound promising for sailing it with 2 or even 1 for fun. The biggest issue we have is the ~$40k pricetag. It’s a nice boat, but it’s old technology (no carbon, old construction, etc). Continue reading ‘Laser SB3′
