| Except for childhood
Optimist sailing,
my first real dinghy, in the 1970s and 80s, was a
Type E sailing canoe built in 1945. Thanks to the 50kg steel centerboard,
it was extremely stable and I never ever succeeded to capsize. I finally
sold it because the steel frame of the centerboard housing was totally
rusted. Since then, I have mostly experience of Laser and Windy. Laser is a fun toy but too small to be a daysailer and it's difficult to carry luggage. Windy is wonderfully over-rigged, extreme lightweight and fast, thus too unstable singlehanded unless I replace the wooden centerboard with a 75kg steel centerboard. Also, the Windy requires the mainsail to be rigged mast first and then boom, which is difficult singlehanded in hard wind. Also, I can't handle the spinnaker singlehanded, which makes a gennaker the preferred choice. I look for alternatives. My perfect dinghy should fill most of the following requirements:
Among present candidates is the Laser Bahia. I haven't tried it. It seems a bit too lightweight but perhaps the stock weightless centerboard can be replaced with a heavy centerboard. The search continues.
Per Åkesson, Oct 2011 rev okt -11 |
