Page II

Scorpion
There were 3 Scorpions to be found at Sailboat, the example on the left was on the Paintcraft stand and was a lovely looking boat, finished to the highest standards. As seems standard on this class now you can clearly see the adjustable shrouds to allow the rig to be raked well back.
The boat also features spinnaker bags rather than a chute, many are now going this way as you can see in the second picture on the right, one of two boats on the class stand.
This boat also has adjustable shrouds, bags and you can see the two jib clew positions necessary for when the rig is adjusted.

The class have worked very hard to promote the Scorpions over the past few years, and this has been a great success. Part of this process has involved trying to reduce the cost of joining the class and with a new boat available from £5500 upwards (see 3rd pic to right) the class has every chance of a buoyant future. Championship turnouts are good and there is an active open meeting circuit, so if you are looking for a two man non trapeze boat the Scorpion is well worth a look, particularly if you like the idea of a wooden boat.

Osprey
OK so you may know I have a soft spot for the Osprey, it has provided me with some of the most enjoyable and rewarding sailing I have done. This is a classic all wood boat that has seen much use but, as is to be expected with the class, still looks good and is still competitive. On many occasions the Nationals have been won by boats over 10 years old, so if you want a boat that lasts take a look at the Osprey.
The freedom to design your own interior layout, put the cleats where you want and adjust what you want are a real bonus to those who like to experiment.

Supernova
The Supernova has been around for about 5 years now and grows as a class quite nicely. The boats are built by Giles Reinforced Plastics of Oxford, and with a new boat costing under £3000 deserves to do well.
The boat has always appealed to me, but I have not had a chance to try one yet (I look forward to the opportunity, any offers). The photo is not a particolarly good one but the boat is light, with a clean interior, has a fully battened mainsail and sails to a PN of 1060, that's faster than a Laser.

Hornet
The Hornet class were busy at the show launching and promoting their new glassfibre self draining boat. Here you can compare the old with the new, there is no doubt that a low maintenance boat will appeal to many and this may well help the class numbers.
The class seem very happy with the new design and the champagne was flowing on the stand (I didn't get a glass though).

RS 800
The latest from the RS stable is the RS800, certainly a unique boat, giving the option of either one or two trapezes. If you go for one you widen the wings, go for two and narrow them, nothing else changes and there is as always an asymmetric spinnaker. This is so both configurations can sail against each other.
You will also be able to pick out the self tacking jib and the nice uncluttered interior.
Costing just under £8000 only time will tell if this multipurpose design concept will work. It does however give the boat a marketing stance and this alone will generate interest. One thing we can expect from RS is that they will quickly develop an open circuit alongside their other classes, this does mean good venues and lots of company in the bar afterwards.

International 14
More often than not the Int 14s are where many new developments happen and they are currently discussing the next set of rule changes. None are to be seen in this country yet but Paul Bieker has now got 7ft 2in racks on his boat that extend a foot aft of the transom, you can find some pictures here.
The yellow boat here is an Ovington 3 GBR1432 and the black one a Morrison Mk10 GBR1434.

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