Trapeze, Three Sails
All the Rage

Rob Stanley wrote the following article on 30.8.99

I recently spent a week up at Ullswater doing their regatta week. With Ullswater being a big lake, larger boats, such as the RS200/400, Laser 4&5ks, Isos, etc are popular there. (Indeed, having seen the sheer numbers at the Lord Birkett trophy, I was amazed at the popularity of such boats.) There is no doubt that these speed machines don't half go - and in a medium breeze look great fun. However, I am an avid National 12 sailor. And this Ullswater week wasn't windy.

I'm not saying that I'm the greatest sailor in the world, but in a 12 (a 2 sailed smaller version of a Merlin Rocket) worth £400, and 20 years old, I was getting 4ths. And a lot of interest in the 12. How could a small beaten up dinghy be quicker than a new RS200 - especially upwind? With many sailors abandoning their Enterprises, GP14s, Graduates, Solos, etc for the new flyers, it seemed a bit ironic that a class dating back to 1936 was performing so well in the lighter airs.

OK, here's the big plug for the class..... N12s require no skilled crew. My crew for the week had never been in a 2 man boat before.
N12s can be rigged to suit crew/helm weight. If you've got a midget crew, opt for small jib, big main.
Club & open meeting wining 12s can be picked up for as little as £1500.
The youth circuit is skilled & competitive, and can be won in a boat costing under £2000.

The class has the best association backup possible.
Before buying a boat, you can check its history fully - such as who's owned it, who built it, what it's won, with whom. They will also advise you on the best design of boat for you. Oh, and for tuning advice, simply get to the open meeting, and call the class association - or ask another 12 sailor for advice on rig tension, mast rake, racing tips etc.

The class association also organises coaching sessions, club visits, etc,etc.
They're great all round boats. (OK, so in moderate winds they don't plane as early as an RS, but in a strong blow they do take off much quicker than an ENT.)
There's a design for all conditions & lakes/rivers/estuaries/seas.
They're lightweight, and built to last. (how many RS200s will look new in 5 years time?)
They're responsive, quick, exciting small boats.
They're ideal to learn on - especially for youth teams.
They don't go out of date quickly. OK, so the latest brand new design does cost an arm and a leg - and seems to win all the national level events. But name any other class where a 15 year old boat is in the top 10? And my last boat, a 28 year old glassfibre hull was a superb river boat - costing only £375.

They can be built by amateurs. (Mine new one is, and when it's repainted will be quick enough to win open meetings - and get in the top 10 at area events even with me sailing it.)

And most exciting of all. You can play about with them to your heart's content.

And innovate.
The latest innovation on rig design is the jibstick that can be flown to leeward - even on a close reach. Its cheap, simple to use, and gives a great boost in performance.

For a great long lasting boat to start off in - and to grow into shouldn't we be looking closer to home rather than paying through the nose for a load of RS.

***Oh and if you don't believe me go to www.national12.org

Rob Stanley

Tony gives his comments 27.8.2000

To pick up Mike Pickles point about traditional classes surviving, it is possible: look at the Fireball class.
Fireballs went through a bad patch in the mid 90's as the new 'asymmetrics' first arrived, but they bounced back such that Fireballs outnumbered the Laser 4000's at their respective 2000 national championships. The latest 'balls from Winder Boats are built to have a competitive life of at least 10 years and are still considerably lighter than their newer challengers.

We've just bought a four-year-old Fireball and are having great fun racing RS400's, a Laser 4000 and 5000 on the water (not to mention the results after handicapping!). Moreover, the Fireball is competitive in all weathers, so we can take on the 400's in lighter winds (when the 4 & 5000 are lost) while giving the trapeze newcomers more than a run for their money in a blow (when 400's are both hard work and slow). All this plus the boat is easier to sail than the asymmetrics, with their large sails and high centres of gravity - even righting after a capsize is easier, with no wings to worry about. Then when the race is over, the boat is lighter to pull up the slip!

I'm slightly at a loss to explain why the Fireball is so quick, since apart from the light weight it doesn't look to have much going for it on paper in the performance stakes, but I've concluded that with its speedboat style spray rails on the hull to improve planing and its very fully developed and highly adjustable rig, it's simply more efficient than the new boats. To get the best out of it you do need to pull the right strings, but simply religiously following the sailmaker's instructions suffice in this respect, and while the symmetric spinnaker does demand more skill, this is quickly picked up after an hour or so's concentrated practice (that most people never do!) to sort out who's doing what and when. Once that's done, it's much more versatile and satisfying to use.

Mike's vision of the conversation with the sailing instructor is all too real, but what the instructor should be saying is, "go to your local club, talk to people and ask to have a go in classes you fancy". These days most people are happy if someone shows an interest in their class, and will be pleased to oblige if there's a chance of a new recruit. And if you're too heavy for a Fireball then yes, a Javelin or 505 would make an excellent alternative tool for embarrassing the new boats!

Tony

Liam Pike replies - 30.9.99

In Trapeze, 3 sails, all the range, Rob challenges anyone to name a class where a fifteen year old boat is in the top 10 at the nationals. I sail a Kestrel, and we came 5th at the Nationals this year in a boat over 29 years old. Not only were we in the top 10, but another old Kestrel, well over 15 years of age was up there in the top 10 too. Admittedly the top 3 were sailing brand new Kestrel 2000s (that cost only £5000 new, full racing spec with the deck recently updated by Phil Morrison and have a PY of 1038 (compared to the RS200 at 1060)), but then the best in any class always tend to have the latest boats.

The new Kestrel 2000s are proving very popular. Around 20 have been sold since sailboat this year with 9 attending the Nationals. This year saw an increased Nationals entry - we had more boats at our Nationals this year than the Wayfarers (a more expensive, similar sized but slower boat), including a couple of big names from other classes.

A new purpose built factory is currently under construction to enable fast, high quality production of the new Kestrel in order to keep up with the levels of demand seen to date.

Second hand boats are available from about £400 upwards, with fast but older boats like mine from £1000. A used boat list is available through the class (Contact Dave Hearsum - Class Sec. on 01508 530679), and is regularly published in Kestrel Magazine, the class newletter.

The class has an established open circuit with opens, Area, National and Winter National (Inland) Championships every year. We also offer training weekends run by top sailors from the class together with RYA Instructors/coaches where loads of advice on tuning is available together with practical coaching on roll tacking, spinaker handling, starting and other aspects of racing.

We look forward to the new year where we will hopefully see a lot more of both the new Kestrels and the older Mk 1 + 2 about.

If you would like to know more about the Kestrel look up the class website on kestrel.mariner.co.uk, or e-mail me [email protected]

Liam Pike,
Editor Kestrel Magazine.

Mike Pickles adds his comments - 2.9.99

In reply to Robs N12 stuff, new to sailing people who have been sailing for a couple of years or so will always tend towards the newer boats because that is exactly what the dealers want to sell.

Our second boat market is stuffed with boats that a new sailor has never seen or heard of, so its hardly surprising that the new boats with the flashy adverts get bought, hence a well sailed old boat will perform better than a new boat sailed by new sailors.

I've just bought a Javelin, its big, fast, solid and dammed cheap. The chances of someone who has sailed for less than five years ever seeing a fleet of Javelins sailing is pretty remote. Which is a shame as its an excellent boat as is the Osprey, Hornet, Marauder etc.

Would you by a boat that you have never seen or heard of?

The Nat12 is a good boat, especially in light airs, but the other factor is that it is a development class and so you run the risk of buying an outdated, outclassed hull, look at the dozens of Int14's on the market for less than the price of a new set of sails.

I can picture the conversation;
New sailor - "I want to buy a boat, what do you recommend?"
Sailing instructor - "Well you really need a one design so you won't get caught with an uncompetitive boat, It needs to be glass fibre because you don't want to be working on a wood boat all the time and you need to pick a boat that is sailed at your local club" New sailor - " Whats the latest one design boat?"
Sailing instructor - "Well you have Lasers, RS's, Iso's etc, etc, etc"

The whole dinghy scene is diluted with the vast array of classes available. The future is down to the survival of the fittest and unfortunately classes like the Javelin, Osprey, Flying Dutchman, Cherub and even the Nat12 will have their work cut out to survive.

Mike

Matthew replies to Mikes comments 27.9.2000

There is two perfect examples of what Mike said at my local club; a 16 stone man with a teenage son sailing a Topaz and a middle aged couple sailin a Laser 2000- in both examples beginners with brand new boats. They would be much better off in something like a merlin rocket for the father an son team and a Enterprise or Wanderer for the couple.

Another thing about new designs is they seem to break easily. I've seen 29ers, Tasars, B14s and ISOs smashed up in force 6 winds when older designs like Fireballs and Merlins have stayed in the race.

Matthew

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