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Can any one help me , I have just purchased a Dart 15 sting and cant seem to find what P Y Rating this has , also does any know where i can obtian any further information on on the Sting ?
Hi Ian
It is PY 860. The Laser Centre only made about 50, it was not very popular. You could try asking them for info. There is a lot on these chat pages. The trouble is that the string "sting" is in a lot of words so the search engine throws up lots of spurious messages. If you search on "Mylar" you will find some of them. If you keep going back there are quite a lot of others as well.
Best of Luck.
Bob
PS are you the Ian Smith who used to own Dart 15 #1955?
No, unfortunately my wife is working so I'm stuck at home with the children. Did I ever tell you the story about the old fella (1945) that raced his son's boat!
I had a Sting (sail no.1235)for 9 years or so from new in about 1991/2. Peter Ewing was in charge, I think, when I bought it. Have you got my old one?
Great boat and loved it, but the mast is Dart 18 section and longer, so heavier, and the boat was difficult to right single handed. I was under 11 stone and I think you need to be 13 stone plus. I mostly cruise and that forced me to return to a standard 15, which I have not regretted.
Apart from the mast, the bridle wires are located several inches further towards the bow and the main-sail is Mylar with a 6:1 downhaul. I have seen it said that the main is about a square metre larger than standard. However, my recollection is that the specification showed the main was, in fact, slightly smaller in area. It was more powerful due to the Mylar, and to the higher aspect.
Peter will know all about that.
The Mylar tended to wear, and I replaced my main. The main has a reefing system, which is messy, and never really worked efficiently. When I had a new main I had the old cut down to the reefing point and that was much better in a blow. (You need a wire strop to make up the difference at the mast-head)
Apart from the above, the rest of the boat was identical to the standard 15.
It was a great boat to sail - just righting it being the problem for me. Sure you will enjoy it.
If not the owner of 1955, are you the Ian Smith, the prime minister of Rhodesia, when Harold Wilson was PM of this country?
I had a curious observation at church today. I noticed that hymn number 299 in "Hymns Ancient and Modern, Revised" in the Church of England, was written by H. Wilson. And the next hymn (300) was written by I. Smith!
I don't suppose the latter was you. Both composers lived in the eighteenth century!
I am the Ian Smith who bought Sail Number 1955. I bought the boat new from the Laser Centre on 19th November 2001. I sold the boat to David Beaumont at Rutland S.C. on 14th May 2004. I did inform Bob about the sale.
I previously sailed Lasers and wanted a change as all of the racing Laser sailors, along with other sailors in other classes, at my club bought Vortexes in 2000/2001, and I ended up being the last person off the water after every race as I was the slowest boat racing, on handicap. I never fancied a Vortex as I was far too heavy and for other reasons.
I didn't realise at the time that I bought it but, at just under 15 stones, I was also far too heavy for the Dart 15. I absolutely loved the boat and had lots of fun in it. I wanted to enjoy the experience of cat sailing, which I did. Another problem was that at my club at Grimwith Reservoir, the shoreline is made up of sharp rocks of all different sizes and the water level tends to go up and down quite frequently. I was always chipping the hulls and skegs and having to maintain them. All of the chips were caused by launching, retrieving or just when the boat was left on the trolley on the shore despite trying to use protection.
In the end I reluctantly sold the boat and got myself a more suitable boat for my weight - a Phantom. As I said previously, I thoroughly enjoyed the Dart 15 and I still look at this web site every day. The class are very lucky to have such a committed, enthusiastic and helpful committee member in Bob Carter who does a wonderful job in every aspect of Sprint/Dart 15 sailing, running the class association and everything else involved with the boat.
Going back to my name and my username, I am often asked why I chose it. I was a member of the old Leeds S.C. (now Yorkshire Dales S.C.) and there was a very good Laser sailor called Ian Smith, who is now in New Zealand, and lived at Shipley. At another local club, Ripon S.C. there is another Ian Smith, who lives near Wetherby. At another local Club, Craven S.C. (near Skipton), there is another Ian Smith who lives at Ilkley. I chose my username as I live at Otley and to differentiate from the other members of the Ian Smith clan. There are many more of us who sail, in other parts of the country.
Hi Ian,
I'm pleased that you are still keeping up with our class. The Phantom is a good boat for 15 stone helms - we have the National Champion (Simon Childs at Grafham who is a big chap). Incidently we have many Sprint 15 sailors who are 15 stone and very competitive. The problem is really that it is not a good boat for handicap racing. In anything less than a force 4 the monohulls leave us standing. In force 4 or greater the reverse is true. It is a much better boat for fleet racing rather than on PY in mixed fleets.
Anyway best regards
Bob
