piezadeaocho 0 Posted November 14, 2019 Share Posted November 14, 2019 Hi! Long time reader, but first time posting here I was looking for a boat to get into the dinghy game and recently a laser 2k with the trapeze kit popped up. I want the boat mainly for sailing around the bay, single handed and with crew. In the past I've sailed Vauriens and Snipes, but I don't have any experience with dinghies from this century, however, I wanted something reasonable fast. Nowadays I mainly sail in a first class 8 and a x37 How hard is to single hand a laser 2k and, specially, how hard will it be to recover from a capsize alone? (I'm a reasonably fit 185lbs guy) How heavy is the boat? The ramp of my local club is pretty steep, I fear it will be too heavy to pull it up the ramp in the trolley. Lastly, I've been offered a Hobie 16, will it be a better choice to single hand? Thanks in advance! Link to post Share on other sites
European Bloke 861 Posted November 19, 2019 Share Posted November 19, 2019 Can't see why you'd have a problem recovering a 2000, probably easier than the cat. It is a fat kid, must be about 140kg, probably about 160kg ready to sail. No real view on which is the best option, but the 2000 would be tough single handed in a breezy venue. Link to post Share on other sites
piezadeaocho 0 Posted November 19, 2019 Author Share Posted November 19, 2019 4 hours ago, European Bloke said: Can't see why you'd have a problem recovering a 2000, probably easier than the cat. It is a fat kid, must be about 140kg, probably about 160kg ready to sail. No real view on which is the best option, but the 2000 would be tough single handed in a breezy venue. Ok, so no problems with the recovery The problem with the venue is not the breeze as much as the swell, 3ft is standard, so I'm not confident in the performance of a cat in that conditions. Anyway with the capability of reefing the main and reducing the area of the jib of the 2k, I'm not that preoccupied with the breeze Any thoughts of the laser 2k, does it sail somewhat decent? Link to post Share on other sites
WGWarburton 779 Posted November 19, 2019 Share Posted November 19, 2019 3 hours ago, piezadeaocho said: Ok, so no problems with the recovery The problem with the venue is not the breeze as much as the swell, 3ft is standard, so I'm not confident in the performance of a cat in that conditions. Anyway with the capability of reefing the main and reducing the area of the jib of the 2k, I'm not that preoccupied with the breeze Any thoughts of the laser 2k, does it sail somewhat decent? Yes. By all accounts they sail well. We have a couple at my (dinghy focussed) club and they are sailed by two of the best sailors there. The class continued after Laser dropped out from making them, I don't think that would have been successful if the boat wasn't fundamentally good. Cheers, W. Link to post Share on other sites
JimC 1,021 Posted November 20, 2019 Share Posted November 20, 2019 The 2000 is by no means a light boat. Singlehanded and steep ramps sounds like an unfortunate combination. Link to post Share on other sites
Board skiff 620 Posted November 20, 2019 Share Posted November 20, 2019 The 2k is a decent boat, but it is a bugger to right. They turtle quickly, are heavy and hard work with only one pulling on the board. On the plus side they are pretty stable so you won’t have to do it too often. Link to post Share on other sites
piezadeaocho 0 Posted November 20, 2019 Author Share Posted November 20, 2019 23 hours ago, WGWarburton said: Yes. By all accounts they sail well. We have a couple at my (dinghy focussed) club and they are sailed by two of the best sailors there. The class continued after Laser dropped out from making them, I don't think that would have been successful if the boat wasn't fundamentally good. Cheers, W. Yes, that's what I thought, if Rs continued with the production it has to have something going for it. Can it be considered somewhat fast? How easy is to plane with it upwind? I've never seen one sailing apart from videos 17 hours ago, JimC said: The 2000 is by no means a light boat. Singlehanded and steep ramps sounds like an unfortunate combination. Yes, that was my main concern but, in the other hand, the laser vago must weight about the same with it's rotomoulded hull and it's meant as a singlehanded 16 hours ago, sosoomii said: The 2k is a decent boat, but it is a bugger to right. They turtle quickly, are heavy and hard work with only one pulling on the board. On the plus side they are pretty stable so you won’t have to do it too often. Maybe a masthead float will help with the turtling? Link to post Share on other sites
Board skiff 620 Posted November 20, 2019 Share Posted November 20, 2019 Yes a float would help. I don’t want to put you off - they are a fine boat for family sailing. Just be warned they are harder than average to right. Link to post Share on other sites
WGWarburton 779 Posted November 20, 2019 Share Posted November 20, 2019 1 hour ago, piezadeaocho said: Yes, that's what I thought, if Rs continued with the production it has to have something going for it. Can it be considered somewhat fast? How easy is to plane with it upwind? I've never seen one sailing apart from videos Yes, that was my main concern but, in the other hand, the laser vago must weight about the same with it's rotomoulded hull and it's meant as a singlehanded Maybe a masthead float will help with the turtling? Not fast, Portsmouth number is 1112, about the same as an International 420 and a bit slower than a Wayfarer or RS200. It's not a "high performance" dinghy and won't plane upwind. I don't know what you are familiar with as a reference- it'll be a bit quicker and nicer to sail than a Bosun, Mirror or GP14 (?) but not as fast or sprightly as a "racing" design like a Kestrel or Albacore, let alone a Fireball/Osprey/Hornet or a more recent Asymmetric/Skiff design... Masthead float is probably a good idea to save energy if a capsize is likely. If you want to plane upwind singlehanded, then your choice of boats is going to be pretty limited!! Cheers, W. Link to post Share on other sites
Running with Scissors 17 Posted November 20, 2019 Share Posted November 20, 2019 For singlehanding I’d check out Melges 14 or RS Aero. Link to post Share on other sites
piezadeaocho 0 Posted November 20, 2019 Author Share Posted November 20, 2019 1 hour ago, sosoomii said: Yes a float would help. I don’t want to put you off - they are a fine boat for family sailing. Just be warned they are harder than average to right. Ok, great then! 37 minutes ago, WGWarburton said: Not fast, Portsmouth number is 1112, about the same as an International 420 and a bit slower than a Wayfarer or RS200. It's not a "high performance" dinghy and won't plane upwind. I don't know what you are familiar with as a reference- it'll be a bit quicker and nicer to sail than a Bosun, Mirror or GP14 (?) but not as fast or sprightly as a "racing" design like a Kestrel or Albacore, let alone a Fireball/Osprey/Hornet or a more recent Asymmetric/Skiff design... Masthead float is probably a good idea to save energy if a capsize is likely. If you want to plane upwind singlehanded, then your choice of boats is going to be pretty limited!! Cheers, W. Pretty familiar with the int420, few units around here. I think I can deal with that performance Snipes are the usual dinghy around here, so I'm confident of being able to sail faster with the 2k 9 minutes ago, Running with Scissors said: For singlehanding I’d check out Melges 14 or RS Aero. Other models I considered were the hobie 15,16, 17 and a vago. But I really like the possibility to carry up to 3 persons of the 2k Link to post Share on other sites
spankoka 270 Posted November 23, 2019 Share Posted November 23, 2019 Get a Wayfarer/CL 16 and then just do not capsize. I know it sounds trite, but this is a dinghy that rarely capsizes. The third chine tends to make the boat round up in any case. On the other hand; most big dinghies are going to be hard to self right. I can sail a Wayfarer well. I could maybe self- right a Wayfarer to save to my life if I had to. I just sailed 'em sensibly so I didn't have to find out about righting them. I think the important thing here is; do not ascribe the self-rescue capability of a competitive crew in a given one design to a family mess-about crew in the same boat. Link to post Share on other sites
European Bloke 861 Posted November 23, 2019 Share Posted November 23, 2019 A Wayfarer on a steep slip. Ha ha ha ha. On your own. Ha ha ha ha ha. It weighs more than many cars. There is much shit advice on these forums, but that's a new entry for the hall of fame. Link to post Share on other sites
spankoka 270 Posted November 23, 2019 Share Posted November 23, 2019 Point taken Link to post Share on other sites
piezadeaocho 0 Posted November 26, 2019 Author Share Posted November 26, 2019 Yeah, the weight is a main concern. I think a hobie 16 or the 2k are around the limit I can handle by myself. Also here in Spain, and specially in the north, the availability and variety of boats are somewhat poor, so not a huge pool of models to choose from. I also found a cherub, and the owner assures that it can be sailed singlehanded with light wind. Should I consider it? It's definitely light enough to be handled easily Link to post Share on other sites
WGWarburton 779 Posted November 26, 2019 Share Posted November 26, 2019 20 minutes ago, piezadeaocho said: Yeah, the weight is a main concern. I think a hobie 16 or the 2k are around the limit I can handle by myself. Also here in Spain, and specially in the north, the availability and variety of boats are somewhat poor, so not a huge pool of models to choose from. I also found a cherub, and the owner assures that it can be sailed singlehanded with light wind. Should I consider it? It's definitely light enough to be handled easily No. Cherub: Link to post Share on other sites
piezadeaocho 0 Posted November 26, 2019 Author Share Posted November 26, 2019 48 minutes ago, WGWarburton said: No. Cherub: Yep, exactly what I've thought, maybe a bit extreme. This one doesn't have the wings tough Link to post Share on other sites
WGWarburton 779 Posted November 27, 2019 Share Posted November 27, 2019 19 hours ago, piezadeaocho said: Yep, exactly what I've thought, maybe a bit extreme. This one doesn't have the wings tough I went back an re-read your OP: IMHO, getting a dinghy, especially a quick one, that does 1-up & 2-up well is hard. If you think about it, the boat relies on crew weight to keep it upright and you are planning to double (or halve) that critical parameter but keep good performance... it's a lot to ask. My suggestion would be to either get a decent double-hander that suits the sailing you want to do 2-up (RS200? RS400? old- Fireball/Hornet/Osprey etc) and then pick up a cheap Laser for when you don't have crew... or flip that and get the singlehander you want (Aero? Waszp? Contender? MPS?) and find an old 470, Enterprise, Wayfarer or something to take out with friends... Of course, if you have to spend a small fortune on dinghy park space, trailers or whatever that's bugger all use... Cheers, W. Link to post Share on other sites
Alan Crawford 603 Posted November 27, 2019 Share Posted November 27, 2019 Weta trimaran fits your requirements nicely. The main thing with a Weta is being able to keep the boat rigged and ready to sail - in that mode going sailing is easier than with a Laser. If you must assemble / disassemble each time you go sailing, that takes time. There's a good thread in Multihull Anarchy: Link to post Share on other sites
piezadeaocho 0 Posted November 28, 2019 Author Share Posted November 28, 2019 14 hours ago, WGWarburton said: I went back an re-read your OP: IMHO, getting a dinghy, especially a quick one, that does 1-up & 2-up well is hard. If you think about it, the boat relies on crew weight to keep it upright and you are planning to double (or halve) that critical parameter but keep good performance... it's a lot to ask. My suggestion would be to either get a decent double-hander that suits the sailing you want to do 2-up (RS200? RS400? old- Fireball/Hornet/Osprey etc) and then pick up a cheap Laser for when you don't have crew... or flip that and get the singlehander you want (Aero? Waszp? Contender? MPS?) and find an old 470, Enterprise, Wayfarer or something to take out with friends... Of course, if you have to spend a small fortune on dinghy park space, trailers or whatever that's bugger all use... Cheers, W. Yeah, is a compromise between the speed when double handed sailing and the ability to survive single handling it. I thought about that, even getting a decent double hander and a windsurf kit, it will save me quite a bit of money vs. having two boats Unfortunately, coming again for the lack of variety of dinghies in this area, optis, Vauriens, snipes, lasers and sometimes a Europa or a hobie pops out, but not much more. 14 hours ago, Alan Crawford said: Weta trimaran fits your requirements nicely. The main thing with a Weta is being able to keep the boat rigged and ready to sail - in that mode going sailing is easier than with a Laser. If you must assemble / disassemble each time you go sailing, that takes time. There's a good thread in Multihull Anarchy: Would love to, but unfortunately I'm afraid a weta is a bit out of my current budget Link to post Share on other sites
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