Fulcrum Speedworks Rocket
- Thread starter Will S
- Start date
tillerman
Super Anarchist
Dave Clark
Anarchist
http://www.fulcrumspeedworks.com/UFO/rocket/
Website linked above. This has been a great project for Fulcrum. We've had a record-breaking year for UFO sales, but heck man we're a for profit company and I want to pay off my mortgage and buy trinkets for my wife. How do you compliment the UFO line? Not with another foiler, we've already got a great foiler. Nope! With a great floater! The Rocket is our 2021 model year take on the great American Board Boat, of which countless different models have been made by countless companies over the years. It's a favorite for a reason.
Things you'll find familiar:
-Unthreatening pricing. $4600 with the sail and dolly. Built in Bristol RI ('merica!)
-Unthreatening usability and stability
-That massively simple lateen rig that's up and running in seconds
-Flip down rudder and easily dropped daggerboard for rapidly moving in and out of shallow water.
Things you'll find to be different:
-It's stupidly strong and about 40% lighter than you'd expect. We used really good materials and build techniques).
-HUGE full-length cockpit for your friends and stuff
-Daggerboard trunk designed to survive grounding without cutting your boat in half.
-Deck layout that you can row from. Oarlocks and oars are seperate.
-Whacky-high level of performance, due to the reduction in weight and a couple subtle acts of care here and there. Planes upwind very consistently and shreds off the wind. I have had a stupid grin stuck to my face by this thing that didn't come off for an hour afterwards.
I would say we have decently hit our mark in creating a boat that serves the more traditional part of the market. Don't ask me if there is fleet racing. You already have all the fleet racing you need. This is an excellent toy!
Merry Christmas!
DRC
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Roller Skates
Super Anarchist
Astounded. This looks like the boat we've been waiting for.
Cheap, cheerful, and wicked fast. @Dave Clark You're doing great things for the sport. Keep it rolling!
Hope this bites, can't see how it wouldn't. I was looking at a new laser, now I can just buy two of these.
Cheap, cheerful, and wicked fast. @Dave Clark You're doing great things for the sport. Keep it rolling!
Hope this bites, can't see how it wouldn't. I was looking at a new laser, now I can just buy two of these.
Roller Skates
Super Anarchist
Any hull changes planned to interceptor/backcountry setups, or are those simply packages of accessories/buildouts that could be added?
Dave Clark
Anarchist
Zero need for any hull changes. Those are just fittings. That hull is an amazing starting point for those configurations.
DRC
aardvark_issues
Member
Thats not a Rocket.
Bill5
Right now
The backpacking option is brilliant! Looks like an efficient rowing shape as well.
tillerman
Super Anarchist
What is the sail area?
martin 'hoff
Super Anarchist
Fantastic! Good on the pricing strategy too. Anyone needing to replace an aging 'fish at a resort will have a thousand good reasons to give you a call.
It never stops amazing me how different the sailing market is in the USA compared to the uk .
1) You love Sunfish.
2) You launch a boat like this with the expectation that it will sell in good numbers because there is a gap in the market .
The whole thing is just beyond my comprehension but all the same I wish it all the best .
1) You love Sunfish.
2) You launch a boat like this with the expectation that it will sell in good numbers because there is a gap in the market .
The whole thing is just beyond my comprehension but all the same I wish it all the best .
sailwriter
Anarchist
Looks like an excellent single handed Everglades Challenge boat. Hmmmm.
MisterMoon
Super Anarchist
- 2,669
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...for a masochist!*
But still cool. There is nothing wrong with a Sunfish, I love mine. Lots of fun and speed for not much $$ or complication.
*Seven EC/UMs here.
Daniel Holman
Anarchist
- 568
- 134
Well done Dave Clark its a nice intelligent addition to the lineup and a good restomod type approach, all the best with it.
"May your wife be weighed down by many trinkets!"
Dan
"May your wife be weighed down by many trinkets!"
Dan
I do understand the difference fast yacht, between the two but my point is in the uk there is no market for either, to be honest you couldn’t even give them away in the uk . While for you in the USA , Sunfish sell well and a manufacturer thinks he can launch a new boat of this type and think he has a great chance of making a profit .
I am not dissing the USA sailing market just pointing out its different to the uk one .
That doesn’t mean I don’t wish Dave Clark all the best with it .
I am not dissing the USA sailing market just pointing out its different to the uk one .
That doesn’t mean I don’t wish Dave Clark all the best with it .
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Daniel Holman
Anarchist
- 568
- 134
I see that somewhere less beholden to the baggage of class system (i.e. boat class rather than upstairs downstairs) then as a glass boat at this price point this really adds up (rather than rotormould). Versatile, fun, simple - bit of retro nostalgia. No nasty smells as surround certain other mass market singlehanders. Not professing to be sailing 2.0 like other singlehanders. Very complimentary to current offering (i.e. UFO) Whats not to like?
Basically its a seagoing mazda mk1 mx5 (miata for you guys stateside).
Basically its a seagoing mazda mk1 mx5 (miata for you guys stateside).
Alan Crawford
Super Anarchist
And let's not forget the vast experience in the small sailboat market (production, sales, design, technology), both in the US and out, but especially within the US, that Dave is bringing to the table. A notable person in the industry has been quoted in one way or the other "the best way to make $1 million dollars in the small sailboat industry is to spend $5 million dollars. Dave knows this very well. I think he's got yet another great boat to go with the UFO.
To all: a great Christmas and New Years holiday!
To all: a great Christmas and New Years holiday!
I sort of agree with Mazda comparison but to be honest it’s less Mazda mx5 ( 1980s technology) and more MG Miget/Triumph Spitfire ( late 1960s technology)
Daniel Holman
Anarchist
- 568
- 134
Well Ok its slightly semantic as the mx5 was itself an appropriation of the 60s british sports car ethos (elan, spitfire, tr4, mg etc) but japanese reliability i.e. without the oil leaks, and at the time benefitted from 25 years of progress in at least some areas.
