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Buying A Boat

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  • So Where Do You Go From Here?

    Well, hopefully you're now fully confident to sail in all sorts of weathers, are mad keen to buy a boat and start racing seriously, and want to join the club. Great, sign here!

    If you're not quite so confident, and feel that you need to take things a bit further before splashing out then, firstly, you'll be very welcome to come back next year, though we'll encourage you to join the club anyway. You could also consider a sailing holiday. You should have enough of a feel for things to be able to get on well at any place that caters for all ranges of experience, be it in Britain or in warmer climes. You can also take RYA certificates on holidays at Sailing schools. You'll find the syllabus looks remarkably familiar.

     

    Buying a Boat

    There are about three hundred different classes of boat out there. What you should get depends totally on what you want to do.  For a first boat its as well to get something that's sailed in reasonable numbers at your chosen club, so here are six choices found at Island Barn. If you're going to buy a secondhand boat you might find it useful to talk to one of us first - we can probably put you in contact with someone who knows the class and can let you know what to look out for.

     

    Singlehanders

    4 Choices: Dry, 2 X Wet (larger) and wet (smaller).

    • The dry choice is the Solo. Its a much deeper boat than the other two, and consequently you can sail in shorts on a calm day without getting a soggy posterior. Being wider and deeper its less strenuous on the knee muscles than the other two. Older Solos are wood and will need varnishing and painting from time to time. Some people enjoy these odd jobs, others don't.
    • Small and wet is the Topper. You never really avoid getting damp in such a shallow boat, but its practically bullet proof, very easy to rig and very simple. Best choice for 8 stone sailors and below, fine up to about 10 or 11.
    • Larger and wet is the Laser. A bigger boat, it is available with a variety of different size sails for people of different weight, although in practice most people at Island Barn have the biggest size sail anyway, because its not very often very windy here.
    • For the more experience or adventurous sailor is the RS Aero, these come with different sail sizes depandant on the size/weight of the helm and the wind conditions.  They are a very popular class of boat with a rapidly growing fleet at Island Barn.

    Twohanders

    3 Choices again, all drier than the singlehanders.

    • For the small team the RS Feva is probably a good choice. It has a little spinnaker when you're ready for that, but really the helm and crew should ideally be older children.  However, you will often see them sailing with a child accompanied by mum or dad.
    • Larger sailors who may or may not want to use a spinnaker regularly should consider a RS Vision. Its got room for three, although raced with two. We have 5 club Visions. that members can use. A Spinnaker is an optional extra for racing.
    • The third is the RS 200, 400, 600. They are an option for the more adventurous who don't mind the occasional swim and are reasonably experienced and confident. Probably best if you've done a season in something else though. You can hire boats from the club and its a good way to try them out.


    Note though that just about any two hander is a fine provided that one person aboard, whether crew or helm, has good racing experience.

     

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