Thinking of buying a Dinghy - need help

superelliptic

Hello All! Im looking into getting a racing dinghy,and its come down to two boats: A Flying Fifteen, or an International 420. My questions are:

What is the club racing situation like around Dublin for these boats? Do you have to spend loads of €€ to become a member of dun laoghaire YC (or elsewhere)? And what are the typical age groups (if any) for crews for dinghys of these types?

Im looking for a fast boat, but Im on a budget:( Im 30, and 16 stone, so any ideas as to which of the two is going to give the best speed?

Lastly, is there anywhere in north Dublin where it would be easy to launch, particularly if I ended up with the F15?

I know there's alot of questions here, so many thanks in advance for any help that you decide to give. Just to give you a little about my own experience, Im not a complete novice (although its safe to say Im rusty:D). I learned to sail in Galway 20 years back, and was it it quite regularly, although I havent sailed in the last 7 years-ish. I never joined a club, but raced informally with mates in Galway, and on the shannon at Lough Derg.

Thanks again!

Tabnabs

If you're based on the north side and on a budget, this is a great friendly club

http://www.cybc.ie/

Silver Breeze

Fleet of Flying Fifteens are sailed at the National Yacht Club in Dun Laoghaire.
They are two person keelboats, ramp launched via a winch. You will not find a suitable ramp in north Dublin, except at Howth Yacht Club. Yes, you will need to join the NYC or HYC to use their facilities. However, there is one Flying Fifteen in the public Coal Harbour, Dun Laoghaire, no membership required, pay only summer and/or winter storage and launch fees. No facilities. Flying Fifteen sailors are mostly over 30, visit the class website: http://www.flyingfifteen.ie/

The 420 is a smaller two person centreboard dinghy, much easier to launch from any beach/ramp/slipway. Mostly sailed by teenagers with a national racing schedule. Class website: http://www.sail420.com/

You'll find an older 420 much cheaper to buy and easier to maintain than a Flying Fifteen.

Clontarf Yacht and Boat Club, mentioned above, is indeed friendly, but severely limited by tide heights for sailing.

breadmond

If you're looking to race, forget about the 420. At 16 stone you won't stand a chance, they're really a boat designed for teenagers or very light people. Have you looked into fireballs? there is a big fleet of them in dun laoghaire anyway, I'm not too sure about north dublin. They're bloody quick too

Pigeon Reaper

Fireballs are great fun and fast but you should try them before you buy a dinghy. CYBC have a few in the club on the northside.

slideshow bob

breadmond wrote: »

If you're looking to race, forget about the 420. At 16 stone you won't stand a chance, they're really a boat designed for teenagers or very light people.

There are a few clubs that have 420s raced by adults in club racing. The travelling competitive scene is dominated by teenagers, with adult boats participating in local championships. Not sure what the situation is in Dublin.

The suggested competitive weight for the boat is 105-130kg. But that's for the hot-end of competition. So long as you're aims are more modest than winning the open Worlds, the 420 is a fine boat to race. It's lively, accelerates quickly, planes upwind (although you'll be looking for a good breeze). Overall it's a good boat for knocking craic out of.

A good place to start is with clubs local to you - find out what boats are being raced there.

kmick

Laser 1 all the way.
At 16 stone you are not going to be competitive in lighter winds but force 4 and above you will be fine. Plus I always found getting good crew was impossible in Dublin which is why I went one man boat after years of sailing enterprises.

db299

In Dun Laoghaire all adult dinghy racing is organised by www.dbsc.org

To see the number of flying 15s racing and class captain to contact check
http://dbsc.org/index.php?/classes/classes/flying-15

420 race in this group
http://dbsc.org/index.php?/classes/classes/portsmouth-yardstick

420 class association http://www.sail420.com/

Other Northside dinghy clubs not mentioned above
http://www.skerriessailingclub.com
http://www.sdc.ie/

superelliptic

breadmond wrote: »

If you're looking to race, forget about the 420. At 16 stone you won't stand a chance, they're really a boat designed for teenagers or very light people.

You callin' me fat?

Yeah, I had a feeling that that would be the case with 420's. Some quick research online showed most of the competitive sailors in that class to be around 21.

Have you looked into fireballs? there is a big fleet of them in dun laoghaire anyway, I'm not too sure about north dublin. They're bloody quick too

I have looked at fireballs, and I wouldnt mind trying one out, so I think I will head down to Dun Laoghaire. Again, there only question really is weight, ie, can a 16 stone guy race competitively in a 2 man fireball? maybe so, maybe no.

superelliptic

kmick wrote: »

Laser 1 all the way.
At 16 stone you are not going to be competitive in lighter winds but force 4 and above you will be fine. Plus I always found getting good crew was impossible in Dublin which is why I went one man boat after years of sailing enterprises.

Buy a bigger boat, and we can team up

db299

Have you looked at SB3? Very popular in recent years. Should be possible to get to crew on one easily enough.

http://www.sb3ireland.com/

SB3 is a keelboat with a crew of 3.

Flying fifteen is also a keelboat.

ado100

Probably the best way to find out what kind of sailing suits you is to join a sailing club and try out a couple of different boats.

Most clubs in Dun Laoghaire are currently accepting new members and some like the Royal St. George have waived their joining fee.

ISAW

superelliptic wrote: »

You callin' me fat?

If you are big but agile and active look into squibs or skiffs. Nitro!

Did you say you only want to race?
Have you considered wayfarers or GP 14's?

and are you only into dingy's and not keelboats?