Frequently Asked Questions about sailing R Class Skiffs
Frequently Asked Questions about R Class Skiffs
(thanks to Rod Mincher (USA) for asking lots of good questions to provide a basis for this FAQ) This is a work in progress...If you'd like to ask additional questions or want more information please contact us
What is an R Class? An R Class is a high performance lightweight skiff style two person sailing dinghy. Up to 3.9m (12'9") in length with a maximum working sail area of 13m2 and 20m perimeter (34m2) kite. No minimum weight and few restrictions.
What is a development class? A class allowing the opportunity to develop fast racing yachts, by realising ideas in design and construction, limited only by the Class specifications.
How long have they been around? The class went National (NZ) in 1951 and had been sailed for something like 12 years before that.
Aren't they outdated? Due to the simple rules structure designers and builders are able to utilise modern ideas and techniques to keep the R Class at the leading edge of performance sailing
Where can I buy an R Class? check out our forsale listings or contact one of the members of your local squadron.
How Much does one cost? Boat prices vary from $500 to more than $10000. New L3 hulls are being built currently and woofs and the previous L2 and L1 hulls are on the market from time to time for under NZ$8000. Acid Rock hulls go for under NZ$3000 and are good value. Hulls pre 1992/3 are under NZ$1500
Can I get a ride? We're always keen to introduce folk to the exhilaration and amazing performance of these exciting boats
How much do they weigh? The current crop of carbon/foam hulls weigh 32-35kgs painted (Nuplex L3 was 28kgs out of the mould, Meridian Energy weighed 29kg unpainted, Subwoofer weighed in at 32kg painted) Mast is about 6kgs rigged and foils are another 5kgs. Prod and boom are around 3kgs. Kite is 1.6kg and Working Sails are about 5.1kgs.
What are the rules?
- Length 3.9m max
- Working Sails area of up to 13m2
- Kite up to 20m circumference (30-34m2 surface area)
- single rig (allowed 1 main, 2 jibs 2 kites for national contests to limit costs and for more challenging tuning)
- 2 crew (minimum)
- Detailed rules
Optimum crew weights Crew weights vary pretty greatly from 110kgs - 200kgs and it seems to make little difference as it seems to come down to boat handling in the end. The rigs are pretty configurable. (the smaller crews usually have flatter mains). 92MoreFM's crew manage to have excellent light weather performance whilst being one of the heavier crews.
All development classes go through evolutionary jumps .. usually in response to rule changes.. Is the R Class rules driven? The R's seem to develop in big jumps every 7 or so years. usually through hull and better construction technologies. The rigs seem to improve every few years as well. So the boats keep getting considerably faster. The rules are fairly simple and we have few restrictions, so as such don't really drive the changes. The 2005 removal of the E rule has allowed the class to experiment with hard chines leading to the success of the L3 hull.
When did the asymmetric kites come into vogue? Single luff kites have been used throughout although double luffs became popular from 1975-1986. The modern asymmetrics were first used in the mid 80's
The kites look bigger than they measure? The kite is measured as a perimeter so you can have as much depth as you like (although it doesn't do much good to go mad). The max kite perimeter is 20m, and if measured the way most classes do its probably around 30m2-36m2 for a maxi kite.
Rig Designs There is no fixed rig plan, although most boats have a pre-bent two spreader rig. There have been boats with wing masts (cedar-glass wing - Won National champs in 1986 and a carbon rotating win-mast won the 2001 Nationals) windsurfer type rigs, cat rigs etc are all tried from time to time. A carbon double spreader rotating wing mast won the 2000 Innovators Trophy.
Design and Construction Carbon/Foam sandwich vacuum bag construction is used for all major structures these days and produces light strong hulls. Previously cedar/glass was used in the 80's, cedar/Kevlar mid 80s, foam/Kevlar, in early 90s. With no minimum weight the changes in materials and methods over the years have resulting in significantly stronger and lighter hulls and associated real performance improvements without rule changes. Current fastest boats are L3 hulls (in foam/carbon). Carbon masts arrived in the mid 90's. And as we have no minimum weight, new construction materials result in significant improvements. 2005 saw the launch of the first L3 hull, narrow with a full length chine. 1998/9 featured the Woof evolution with almost no rocker. The previous well used hull design came out in 92 and has been slightly modified in a few boats. The current top boats weigh under 35kgs. These boats are considerably lighter than the minimum weights of comparable classes and hold up to the punishment.
Popularity of the class in NZ Currently we're having a resurgence here in Canterbury with 11 fairly competitive boats and a few learners. 3 boats are sailing regularly in Otago. 2007 Leander had 15 boats in Auckland. We had 35 boats for the Nationals in February 2000 with 8 boats racing in a masters division (for boats with the older small rig) as it was the 50th contest. 5 Canterbury boats are less than a couple of years old (3 new in 2000/2001)
Approximate performance The boats are very lively and accelerate extremely freely. Upwind they plane very early (surprisingly early in fact). This Clip gives an idea of the upwind speed in light-moderate conditions. Its not the same race as the downwind bit in the same clip ;-) which had a lot more breeze. Downwind boats have been chased at more than 25kts. The hulls are so small and lightweight that they are subject to every variable, wind, wave and crew movement, making for incredibly responsive sailing.
The Cinematic Treat The promo video is from 1996, and is pal (its only 4 minutes long though). We use it at boat shows etc. We've got the whole thing digitised so can cut a CD, but we've not distributed any yet
Sailing Conditions If your local conditions are regularly 12-20kts then R Class are ideal and with a reef and small jib and kite you can go up to over 30kts.
Do you have to buy from authorised suppliers? There aren't any. You can build using whatever you like how you like as long as its within the rules.
Is there a steep learning curve? Yep.
Who is attracted to R's? The Rs seem to attract people that want to sail for the sheer exhilaration of it, try out their ideas without fear of violating obscure and difficult to interpret rules and generally have a good time on and off the water. The experienced guys are keen to help the new crews to get up to speed and share ideas around, largely so that the top crews have to try harder locally and hence do better nationally.