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Countdown to the best Dinghy Show in the World…..  We have just finished building the show stand – from flooring, structure, shelving, lighting, computers, three cash tills with bar code scanning and three boats on the stand; the RPX (Rooster Project X), Graduate and Rooster 8.1.  The fourth boat we brought is the Streaker which is on the Class Association stand.  Lots to see and discuss on our stand.  Just to make life a little more hectic I am also doing a short coaching session in the Coaching Area at 12:45.

Before you visit the stand, you might want to take advantage of a £10 voucher when you subscribe to the Dinghy Magazine, redeemable at Rooster over the weekend against clothing or sails.  Every little helps!

If you are coming – look out for the Rooster Stand – we in the Main Hall in the middle- ish – perhaps more towards the rose window than the organ end – but you can’t miss us – its the biggest stand.   If you are not coming, have a great sail.

1.    With Rooster’s RPX prototype will be on the Rooster Sailing stand and still much in the air with its final presentation, come and speak to Steve Cockerill and put your gripe to him about dinghy designs.   With 12 months more development work planned for this new class, Steve is keen to get your feedback on the boat’s concepts, pricing and positioning in the dinghy market.  Enter the questionnaire at the show and get a chance to win £100 of Rooster Clothing in the process.  Also for the geek’s out there you can also see a new Sea Sure Joint on the Rudder stock of the RPX – which has been developed by Sea Sure to reduce the mass of the tiler joint and make it safer so you don’t need tape to hold the extension on.  It certainly looks sleeker.
2.    The Battle of the Classes Winning Graduate is on the Rooster Stand showing that old classes can be revived and give youngsters a taste of competitive sailing.   Take a look at Phil Morrison’s makeover of the class. I still can’t forget the fun I had sailing at that event.  I am longing to get back in a two man boat and pass of some knowledge  :-)
3.    There are now over 450  Rooster 8.1 rigs sold around the world.  It is sailed largely used by club sailors looking for a little more power on light wind days.  Its National Championships in 2009 attracted 34 sailors and is set for another exciting event this Autumn.  Current planning is to race the event at London Corinthian on the weekend of the 20th, 21st of November 2010.   What a spectacle, 40  8.1 rigs sailing around central London.  It could be a scream!
4.    The Rooster Streaker on the Streaker Stand (sadly there was not enough room on the Rooster Stand this year)  has now one of  53 made in the last 18 months.  This is a lightweight club racer that is drawing a wide appeal from Men and Ladies of all sizes.  Don’t miss out on the Classes Competition which could win you some Rooster Clothing and much more.  While you are at the stand – ask if you can actually pick one up.  You will be shocked!  Jack Holt designed it when he did not have the energy to pull a Solo out of the water.  Its lightness is the appeal to me.  Whatever you do is transmitted to the boat with instant results.

The Rooster Sail Loft have got some incredible prices and deals at the RYA Dinghy Show and more developments to report:

1.    10% off Rooster sails ordered at the show including numbers fitted, battens, bags and free shipping*.  Do you need any more incentive?
2.,    Both the Rooster Streaker (streaker stand)  and Rooster Graduate (Graduate Stand)  will be on show with National Championship winning sails.
3.    Recent Rooster Sailloft developments will also be on show: we have a new Solo sail on the Rooster developed gust responsive Superspars M9/Rooster Trilaminate all Mylar Rig which will be on show on the Solo stand during the weekend.  Stuart Jones’ Contender will also be displaying a Rooster sail which he has helped develop for the 2010 season – again with some very recent tweaks for the coming season.

* Free shipping to UK mainland except Highlands and Islands.

1.    A  Trapeze Harness – Take a look at Rooster’s recently developed Trapeze Harness – its a revolutionary design in comfort – come and try it on.
2.    More ‘In the Pink’ Range – Now with Pink Semi Dry Tops, Aqualfeeces®, Beanie Hats and Neck Gaiters – we are ready for those who want to be in the Pink.
3.    Do you want HOT HANDS?  We can show you the recent development in gloves – With our new product Hot Hands and Arctic Gloves.  Both utilise our hot top fabric which make a huge difference in warmth retention – I can definitely confirm that after wearing one liner at the weekend in 5 degrees and 20 knots.  Hot Hands are a glove liner so you can add them to grip gloves of your choice  – perhaps even our new super thin grip gloves might be the answer; and our Arctic Gloves are a combination of hot hands and Aquafleece® gloves in one.  You never need to have cold or clutsey hands again.  They are so new – we hope to have  a sample size range to show you at the show.  Main stock arrives by the end of March.

We knew that the Thermaflex was a great garment for keeping you cool out of the water – and even better for keeping you warm in it, but now we have proof.  Under recent tests a team of Navy Seals ran 6 miles in Mediterranean Conditions and then went straight into the water for a series of diving drills.  The Thermaflex came up tops for coolness above the water and warmth in it.
This garment has been well received by many sailors on foreign trips away; I used it on its own in Australia, South Korea and with a wind protection layer such as an Aquafleece on typical summer days in the UK.  But its also loved for its ability to be great in cold conditions too, by just adding a Poly Pro thermal under it to keep the cooling Lycra inner layer away from the skin – then you can use the thermal insulating properties of the super-stretch fabric to keep you warm.

The Rooster Team have been working on a trapeze harness for longer than I can remember. Finally this year we threw away conventional thinking and developed something from scratch.  We think it is radically different from others on the market and as a result very comfortable.

What we really hated about conventional trapeze harnesses was that in order to support your back – you had to transfer trapezing loads through your groin.  Working with the idea that the harness should be comfortable in both the crouching and trapezing position we started with a bosun’s chair arrangement but then added another set of straps for the mid back.  The result of the mid back straps being used was that we could remain fully extended without the use of the shoulder straps  – which was a revolution for lower parts comfort! Obviously we still use the shoulder straps for extra support – but the load required for support is far less – and this enables freer movement for when you are moving  around the boat.

We were also keen for sailors to re use their old spreader bar.  We have designed this harness so that sailors can quickly add their 40mm or 50mm by 220mm spreader bar whether it is a quick release or standard and go sailing.  This will save them £20 on the price of the harness.  If you want an RWO quick release spreader bar – add £15 to the standard price.

Come and check out this development and others on our stand at the RYA Dinghy Show 6 and 7 March.

Sometimes the easiest thing can be difficult it you have never seen it done.  I am constantly impressed by the power of a small video clip. 

We are working on more videos along the lines of rope splicing, boat maintenance, and I guess a few videos of how to maintain a Laser -- like end for end the top mast -- or end for end the lower mast.  More work for me  :-)     Two recent additions have been how to attach a tiller extension to its tiller, when using a removable rubber style UJ
and how to repair your Laser Self Bailer.   I heard this week that you can replace the bailer rubber bands with metal springs that don’t get perished and worn out.  Soon to be available at Rooster.   The class have adopted them as a legal modification -- so soon this operation may only be required when the bailer chute has been damaged.

In a strong southerly, Stokes Bay kicks up a challenging chop that is hard work in a Laser.  RPX did not handle the conditions as well as I would have liked.  The slot gasket was snagged and I had a constant plume of water reaching heights of 6 inches out of the back of the case – and whilst going to windward the cockpit filled with water from the general oozing from the slot gasket.  We have been looking at adding more rocker and more of a vee section under the mast to enable RPX to handle Stokes Bay’s difficult chop – and this day was a reminder why.  The bow was not at all happy upwind which was exacerbated by the fact that this prototype was now feeling very heavy; I suspect that the polystyrene has been absorbing water under the glass fibre skin with most of the polystyrene being in the bow, it was now feeling hard to lift the front of the trolley now! Note to self – re weigh the prototype. Read the rest of this entry »

Sometimes the simple things look the best -

I hope you find this video useful.  Be inspired -- buy lots of rope from Rooster and the tools too  :-)

Convincing wins at Stokes Bay -- or was it?  With wind of 4 -- 8 knots with some large holes in an shifting off shore breeze I found myself with some convincing speed at times, but also with doubts as I sailed into a hole and watched the Lasers reducing my lead again.  I guess you can never gauge speed in conditions like this except for the feeling that I was never under any real danger.   I sailed around between the races with the rudder fully up and demonstrated that directional stability is pretty high.  I could adjust the direction with both the heel of the hull and the centreboard. Heeling to windward to bear away -- and heeling to leeward and perhaps pushing the centreboard down (forward) to head up.

The prototype boat currently weighs in at 70Kg with its rather heavy ‘Heath Robinson’ mast and boom and prototype polystyrene and glass construction.   I can’t stop thinking how the RS300 was advertised as an easy boat to sail, when clearly is was not; personally its the most challenging and exciting boat I have ever sailed.  After speaking to the team at RS I discovered that during it’s development, the prototype had gained weight from re shaping.  Being quite heavy it sat deeper in the water giving it a wider water plane and let sailors think it was rather stable.  RPX on the other hand has a much less extreme hull form than the RS300.  I could never have thought that I could sail the RS300 rudderless -- so perhaps I should relax and wait for the full vinylester lightweight version with its full carbon rig before making the direct comparison.  Designing a boat that both fun and easy to sail is quite a challenge -- at least we have one that will do what you want -- even without the rudder!