The 50S – Half 1
The Worldwide 505. Typically thought-about to be one in all, if not THE, greatest dinghies ever designed. Aesthetically stunning, quick uphill and down, no main gripes and handles sea situations many different dinghies would battle in. Yep, positively the very best dinghy I’ve ever sailed.
It does, nevertheless, have a flaw. Paradoxically, a flaw that this improvement class has, erm, developed over time. That flaw is the associated fee to purchase one.
Again within the late 80’s we offered a few four-year-old Lasers on a double stacker for £4,250 and acquired ourselves a 4-year-old Parker 24. I’m very typically assuming, subsequently, {that a} new 505 value roughly what 2 normal Lasers value again within the day. We did fairly nicely in our 505 with a number of prime 10 outcomes at Nationals proving that she was a aggressive boat within the massive fleets of the day. Quick ahead to immediately’s costs and a totally race specced ILCA, together with XD fittings and carbon fine details, prices £7,325. Multiplying that by 2 leads to £14,650. You’d be fortunate to get a 10-year-old 5oh for that cash, and a model new one would value twice that quantity.
Nevertheless, I like the 505. I’d choose a 10-year-old, and even 20 12 months previous, 505 to a Laser any day. However I additionally wish to compete and there’s no manner a 10-20 12 months previous 505 goes to have an opportunity of successful the nationals. Not with out spending massive sums on excessive facet foils, twin carbon pole programs, changing the tin increase for a carbon one and presumably having to purchase miles of spectra or the like for all of the metres and metres of rope on board. Admittedly there are some “tremendous boat” exceptions to this rule however they command a ransom too.
So why has the worth gone up from roughly 2 x Lasers to roughly 4 x Lasers? Is it the decline within the class measurement? Nicely, whether it is, this value hike gained’t assist the numbers to ever get well. Is it due to extra unique supplies within the hull, foils, spars, sails and fittings? It’s definitely doable, certainly possible, however there are different lessons of an analogous measurement which have unique supplies in them too whose costs haven’t elevated by this quantity. A model new Fireball or Osprey are within the area of the two x Laser value and, while they don’t carry out fairly in addition to a 505, they’re not 1,000,000 miles off, significantly contemplating they’re half the worth.
Personally, I believe it’s the sheer complexity of the boat that’s bought uncontrolled. Once I say “uncontrolled” I primarily imply “overdeveloped to the extent the place the common man can’t afford them”. Again within the day, once we had fleets of 100 boats flying round triangle-sausage-triangle programs, have been we actually that a lot slower than a present 5-oh? Positive, a bit of slower, however not an excessive amount of – even by immediately’s requirements. it was fairly speedy. Extra to the purpose, did we have now any much less enjoyable as a result of the boats weren’t as advanced as immediately? Categorically, no we didn’t. Maybe we even had extra enjoyable as a result of bigger numbers each on and off the water.
So, in earlier years the 505 was comparatively half the worth it’s immediately and but was simply as enjoyable, if no more? Makes you assume doesn’t it?
Nicely it definitely makes me assume. I’d like to race the 505 however I merely can’t justify the worth tag to myself, not to mention try to take action to my partner.
So, what to do? I might purchase a model new Osprey or Fireball for HALF the worth of a brand new 505. Each nice, enjoyable boats however they’re not the 505. Isn’t {that a} disgrace for me as I’d actually a lot choose to be competing in a 505? I’m positive I’m not the one one on the market both. If solely there might be a way of having the ability to race a 505 competitively with out having to fork out almost £30k…….
Introducing (suggesting actually) the 50S – hopefully the germ of an thought that would conceivably imply extra 5ohs at occasions and higher utilization of twond hand hulls.
The 50S (or 50Simplified) would (might?) restrict the variety of fittings, use a set form of foils with no unique supplies, use aluminum spars, return to the 5m kite (let’s be sincere, it wasn’t precisely small to begin with) and, relying on whether or not there could be any long run saving, implement the usage of dacron most important and jib (though maybe the longevity of laminates over dacron would imply that is pointless). I’ve kept away from suggesting much less unique supplies be used within the hull as longevity of it’s paramount to the 50S.
By my reckoning, we might strip circa £10k out of the price of a brand new boat with out shedding an excessive amount of efficiency – crusing one would definitely put a smile on my face and, I think, that of most sailors on the market. It additionally means older boats might be re-consigned as a 50S. By stripping among the fittings out it might grow to be class authorized fairly simply, that means moderately than having to lay our a fortune on bringing the boat UP to the racing spec of a 505, you possibly can flog a number of fittings and convey it DOWN to the racing spec of a 50S.
Give it some thought. Make this class occur and in a single day there could be dozens, scores and even a whole bunch of boats at the moment solely membership racing that might grow to be aggressive boats for the 50S occasions. Held, in fact, alongside the 505 occasions, doubling or extra, the present entry numbers making for extra enjoyable occasions, maybe even going again to the times when complete households went to occasions and loved the corporate of previous pals after the times racing.
