Monday, March 9, 2009

Decisions Decisions

Since I changed jobs and industries a while back, I am no longer able to do keel boat racing. This left me with a difficult decision.

Which sailing dinghy should I buy? What will I use it for? Where to store it? Tillerman will try and persuade me to buy a laser, because it is simplistic, an Olympic class and very competitive. But what if I want to do a little bit of double handed sailing?

Then Tim will try and persuade me to buy a Enterprise. You can comfortably sail around on the lake, race and take the family out for a little bit of adventure. It has pretty blue sails and are very stable. But what if I want to sail alone?

What if....What if...What if?

People would think I am an old lady struggling to make up my mind over which color serviettes to buy for a tea party. So I made a list of what I want in a dinghy.

1. Must be able to launch it from the beach - Hobie/Laser
2. Must be able to sail it on my own and with Rozanne - ?
3. Must be able to store it in my garage - No Hobie will fit - Enterprise/Laser/Finn
4. Must be a competitive class in South Africa - Enterprise/Laser/Finn/Hobie

So I drew my finale conclusion:
I must have two Dinghies. A laser/Finn for when I want to launch from the beach and sail alone and an Enterprise or Laser2 for when I want to take Rozanne along.

Any suggestions?

6 comments:

Anonymous said...

If you are at all interested in racing, buy a boat that's popular and raced a lot near where you live. That's why I sailed a Sunfish for many years, it was the predominantly most popular single-hander for racing in the area I lived in inland New Jersey. More fun to race an Ok-ish boat in fleets of 40, than to own a better boat and never race it at all.

Smilicus said...

Thank you for the advice Tillerman. Had a Sonnet dinghy and a hobie 14 turbo when I was younger. Looking for a bigger fleet, but weighing 100kg's laser will probably be a no no. SO moving towards a Finn (single handed0 and a fireball/Flying Fifteen(double handed)

Happy sailing

gk said...

How about an Extra? The class has been doing rather well lately... See the new website at www.extrasailing.com

Smilicus said...

Hi GK. I am looking at the extra for me(they are very active in South Africa) and a Laser for my Fiance. BUT I am also looking at a Hobie 16 for the two of us for some fun and exhilarating sailing.

Thanks for the input

GK said...

No problem. If you want to find out more or are looking for a boat get hold of the committee through the website - people like Stephen du Toit have a very good idea of what's happening in the class.

Smilicus said...

Thanks GK, will give him a shout when I am buying.