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I am not involved with the RS class in any way so have no personal knowledge of boat numbers in Australia. But as http://www.rssailing.com.au/ is a part of Performance Sailcraft Australia, the Australian Laser builder I would think that they are pushing hard to get their boats out there into the market. Maybe an email to rssailing would be in order if you are interested in the class to find out if there are any fleets in Australia yet.
The fleet is poor in AU atm so i sail mine in GB and because im coached there i sail for GBR in the worlds! How ever the fleet is trying to be improved in au, hopefully the fleet will grow and become as good as the english fleet
The fleet is poor, that is an understatement. PSA are pushing water uphill to introduce RS classes into AUS. Nothing wrong with the RS boats construction, but their design brief for most of the RS classes is UK inland waterways which does not equate well to AUS where we mostly sail on more open waterways. AUS also just does not have the sailing population to make mass production boats a profitable endeavour.
Was wondering why 333 kept on putting up the RS videos, good luck with it, have not seen anything from the Baby Boomers doing the Sabers in WA for a while, hopefully they are out enjoying their pre-teen training boats.
The Sabre guys are doin well over here. Our club had winter races on Sunday, 9 Sabres lined up....all over 40s guys, including my old man who is 70, and there were still some missing. It's a bloody plague! But seriously, they love it and good on em. Doesnt matter that the boat isn't a mass marketed, thermo moulded, pretend high performance boat....they are getting good people on the water and in the club bars!
And I too wonder why the RS Feva keeps getting a mention. Reckon they have no hope up against Flying Ants, Flying 11s etc etc etc
It's the etc. etc. etc. part of the last post that is the problem, too many boat classes to choose from and not enough sailors to sail them.
For any class to become established means having to poach sailors from another classes we don't have enough of an interested sailing population.
Plus the higher costs of living now really starting to bite into peoples leisure time means for a lot of people sailing is not an affordable option unless it's one of the less popular classes which tend to devalue quickly.
The RS boats are being used by many of the commercial sailing schools on the east coast, but their movement into the club sailing scene is almost nonexistent. The RS 100 which got a big push and is for all intensive purposes a great boat still did see more than 7 or 8 boats sold. The majority to Far North Queensland where it was great to see 3 of them on the water together.
The Saber class, it really does appeal to the retired folk, and brilliant that it is successful, just need to keep Formula Sailcraft well away as that company seems to be a key to the demise of a couple of classes recently! WA125'r will know much about that! Was sad at McCrae to see the 125 fleet nationals in such disarray.
Brett, yep I know a bit about the class you mention being a past National President and current sailor. FSC is not responsible for any disarray or demise last year. There are some bridges that need mending and work to do to get people attending National Championships for sure and that has started. Hopefully you will see a nice fleet on Lake MacQuarie for the Nationals at xmas/new year that will include boats from WA, QLD, NSW, Vic and possibly SA. Yep, last year was unfortunate re numbers but given the previous year in Esperance we had 32 boats from 3 States all isnt lost. Still a great boat and great people.
FSC makes a good product for those that have neither the time ,or want, to build/maintain boats. It fills a niche that is there for 125s as well as Impulses, Sabres etc. Their owner is a long time committed 125er, 3 times national champion and not a bad guy. This is not a place to air any such accusation.
In regards to Sabre's being for retired folks I think you may have to look again...the class is full of top sailors. A 130 boat fleet is amazing. If its not up to your standard as far as boatspeed goes then thats fine but I can tell you from what I see to win a Nationals in a Sabre would be very very difficult to do. Speed is not everything when it comes to great racing experiences. If it was then Lasers, Etchells etc etc would not be the classes they are.
Any boat builder who bullied the association into changing the class rule so only he is able to supply glass boats seems to be only interested in one thing. The impulses are in the same ****fight but not heading in the same direction.
Unfortunately I see the 125 following the VJ, 145, Gwen 12, Rainbow etc into obscurity. As someone well outside the 125 class it was really bad to see at McCrae a young female skipper in tears as one of the older/wiser gents decided to take her to the protest room over an incident that did not involve contact or any need to do paperwork for an insurance company.
BTW, just my personal taste, but the proposed new sail plan looked rediculous, if the 125 thinks it is competing against 29r's or 13's for numbers it will never succeed, if the class would look to foster the ideals that made it so good, like the saber, it would flourish. All classes have up's and downs over the years, the association making stupid decisions during the bad times is what will kill it. What the RS classes do really well is promoting their boats for exactly what they are.
Brett, I am unsure where you get your inside info from but it got some major inaccuracies.
A) no builder bullied anyone into making any decisions I can assure you of that. Each State association has a vote to make and rightly or wrongly this is the forum where decisions are made. Granted not all are/were correct but no one person or organization holds sway.
B) the proposed sail plan you mention was just that, a proposal, which was voted down.
Not sure about the on water incident you speak of, And I'm not sure of the point your making raising it? If it was an incident on the water the rules and or "the room" would have dealt with it.....I'm sure the Contenders have or have had some of the more zealous types amongst their ranks?
Why not pop down to SLMASC at xmas/new year for a beer with the WA 125ers and ask them about the class over here....it is far from dead. Our numbers are stronger than 420s, Cherubs, 29ers at State level....I'm not silly enough to suggest that will be forever but at present we are doing nicely.
My Bad, bullied was the wrong word to use, swayed may be the better term.
Definately up for an ale or 3, the contenders are off to SA but sure date clash is not big.
The Contenders have many of the same issues with attracting its % of the ever dwindling sailing population with proposals of reducing hull weights and bigger rigs/kites. The Sabers and Lasers doing little to displace existing boats may be doing it the right way!
