Dart 15 as first boat?

[Richard C]

I am new to dinghy sailing but have RYA2 and have been windsurfing for some years. I intend to buy a dinghy this spring which needs to be a sporty singlehander (for most of my sailing) but also something I can sail with my teenage children.

I am considering a Dart 15 as they have been recommended as fun, exciting and fairly straightforward to rig, sail and maintain. I’ve also been told that class association is friendly and well developed

I don’t expect to get an unbiased view but could anyone offer advice - is this a good boat to start out with, are they easy to manage as a single hander, has anyone else started on them, where can I find a good condition boat on a budget (less than £1500), are they car topable…………

Thanks

Richard

[George Love]

Hi Richard,
The Sprint 15 Association is the place to be!! Totally unbiased!
Seriously - The answer to all your questions is YES! No doubt you will get some similar responses from others in the Class Association. However, rather than give you a long screed about how good and easy and fun and exciting the boat is to sail and what great sport we have to offer at our events and how well we look after newcomers to the Class, you are welcome to ring me for a chat anytime. You can also visit us at the Dinghy Show at Alexandra Palace on 1st/2nd March where we will have stand. I guess you have already had a trawl round the website where there's lots of useful stuff as well as boats for sale and some ideas on prices of second hand boats.
My phone no. eves. is 01773 747731 or day 01332 363355.
Hope to hear from you.
Regards,
George Love : Editor Class Magazine

[Steve Willis]

Hi Richard,

Where are you based? The Association has members throughout the country and I am sure we can get you in contact with a club near you where you could go and meet Sprint 15 sailors and talk it through.

My wife and I were both long time windsurfers before moving to cats as age began to catch up on us. The Sprint 15 is a good move from boards and at our club we have several members who have bought them as their first boats - including other board sailors. We haven't had the boards out now in 8 years (anyone want a couple of F2 Stratos boards?).

Steve

[Andrew Hannah]

Dear Richard,

The questions you ask are the same as those I am asked by many parents. However, I warn parents that their teenage children will soon dump their fathers and grab the tiller for themselves.

It is best to join a club and take part in the races. This is because clubs will provide support boats whilst racing is in process. You might find this reassuring for your children.

A parent/child combination works well because the jib can be rigged and you would sail on the same handicap number as a single sail boat with one person. Two children together also works well.

A new Sprint costs about the same as a five year old Ford Mondeo. Second hand boats are available. There is one for sale at my club for £1450, which is not advertised on the association website. PM me for further details.

[George Stephen]

Hi Richard,

Secondhand Boats

If you click on "Buy and Sell" on the Home page you'll get a list of boats currently for sale by Class Association members. You'll also find a Price Guide (based on "recent sales") and Tips on Buying Secondhand.

Avoid boats where the trampoline cannot be tightened enough to remove most play between the beams and the hull mouldings - the trampoline holds the boat together as the beams are not fixed to the hulls with bolts (most cats have bolts for connecting beams and hulls). Check this by lfiting one bow to see when the other bow starts to lift - preferably within 2 inches of lift on the first. Prices of new Tramps can be found under "Suppliers" on the Home page. Repairing excess play in the hull mouldings is not straightforward.

If you run the sail up the mast and tension the downhaul there should still be space between the downhaul block and the bent rod in the mast - if you can pull the downhaul close then the mainsail is well past its best!

There is high demand for secondhand Sprint 15s so £1500 budget will mean that you could only expect to buy a fairly old boat.

There are sometimes boats advertised only locally at sailing clubs, and these are sometimes cheaper than those advertised on this site - though condition may be more of an issue.

If you "Search" the Chat pages using car AND topping you'll find quite a lot of useful (and useless!) advice. The main point to remember is that your car really does need to have a roof load limit (check your handbook) of 80 kg+, preferably 100kg to carry all the weight you'll put on it - hulls 66kg, mast and beams ??. Also the hulls act like sails so you need good quality roof bars - especially the brackets which attach to the car roof to carry the beams - there was a time when you could buy roof bars with pressed steel brackets which attached to the roof gutters - these brackets could be bent with the strain generated by the combination of car speed and crosswind speed....... There's advice on tying hulls on so that they don't "move around". If you use straps, put a half twist in every long length that doesn't contact the hulls - if you don't the strap will vibrate in the airflow - while you may think it's just a very annoying noise, the vibration can and WILL cause wear in the strap at the points where it contacts something solid, at a rate that can ruin your straps in one trip.

[Erling]

Hi Richard
I think 19 of our 15s were the first boat they ever had.
We can always try to arrange a sail in one for you.
I get beaten by £1500 15s all the time, so with a bit of care you will find a good boat.
I do about 3000 miles a year with my boat on the roof, doing about 180 tomorrow. You must tie it at the front and back to stop it twisting.

[Jaycb]

Hi Richard,
That's an interesting post - you and I could be the same person. Like you, I'm a windsurfer at heart but wanted a dinghy to sail on non-planing summer afternoons. I'd have been happy with a Laser or Feva but GF fell in love with cats on holiday. I looked at a lot of cats but the reason I bought a Dart 15 was that it's reasonably simple to put together and rig plus is light (and of course this bunch are REALLY helpful and enthusiastic too).
Having said all that I've not sailed it yet so can't add any real weight to my argument.
Interestingly, Topper now make a 14-foot cat that's under four grand new - looks good but of course that's a fair wadge and it's a bit heavier...
We paid £1000 for our Dart 15 a month ago and apart from a few bits and bobs that I'm doing to it there isn't much wrong with it. You may well get a good boat for under £1500. Even if you have to buy a few new bits it's not the end of the world and from what I've seen you can buy virtually every part of the boat as a spare and do the work yourself at home.

[Jaycb]

Just had a thought - are you by any chance the RichC who windsurfs at Camber?

[Richard C]

Wow – what a fantastic response, thanks for all the good advice and I’m now convinced the Dart 15 is the right boat for me. I’ll certainly visit the stand at the boat show in March and will be actively looking for a boat; feel free to contact me if there’s something in Kent/East Sussex area.

I have recently joined Bexhill Sailing Club, partly because they have a fleet of Dart 16s - are there any other club members out there sailing 15s?

Thanks again
Richard

[Andrew Hannah]

Wow – what a fantastic response, thanks for all the good advice and I’m now convinced the Dart 15 is the right boat for me. I’ll certainly visit the stand at the boat show in March and will be actively looking for a boat; feel free to contact me if there’s something in Kent/East Sussex area.

I have recently joined Bexhill Sailing Club, partly because they have a fleet of Dart 16s - are there any other club members out there sailing 15s?

Thanks again
Richard

Hi Richard, take a look at the clubs link. Bexhill does indeed have a fleet. So you have joined like-minded people. They will be thrilled to have you.

Andrew.

[Martin Searle]

Wow – what a fantastic response, thanks for all the good advice and I’m now convinced the Dart 15 is the right boat for me. I’ll certainly visit the stand at the boat show in March and will be actively looking for a boat; feel free to contact me if there’s something in Kent/East Sussex area.

I have recently joined Bexhill Sailing Club, partly because they have a fleet of Dart 16s - are there any other club members out there sailing 15s?

Thanks again
Richard

Richard

There are couple in the North Kent area one at Seasalter and the other at Whitstable. Take a look at the buy and sell page on the site for further info.

Martin Searle

[Robert]

Hi Richard

A Sprint 15 at around £1500 is a great buy - you're definitely onto a good thing. You won't have any problems getting the hang of it being a board sailor. I come from a dinghy background and wasted over £150 on a Cat Conversion Course with the Hobie Cat Centre in Poole to see if I would be able to sail a cat and if I would like it (Durrr!). OK they supplied a boat and instructor but I learned much more by attending a Teach-in at Carsington a couple of years ago once I'd taken the plunge and bought a boat (princely sum of £15 for two days!). There's one this year at Stewartby in Bedfordshire - a bit of a drive for you but worth the effort if you have a boat by then.

I was lucky in getting a boat. At the time of looking, the ones on the Buy/Sell page were too expensive for me but I enquired at Bala Catamaran Club and mentioned I was looking for a Dart 15 and was told someone was looking to sell theirs and I've been very pleased with my purchase ever since. I'm also enjoying gradually upgrading it.

Good luck with your plans.

Robert

[Richard C]

Thanks for the advice and encouragment, well worth knowing about the teach-in at Stewartby, does any know the date?

There are a couple of Darts on the buy and sell page - Spark 198 and Dart 1459 which aren't too far from my budget. I'm probably going to buy during March and throw myslef into it at Bexhill (literally) - also hoping to find another Dart 15 sailor at the club.

Thanks again,
Richard

[Bob Carter]

Hi Richard,
The details of the teach-ins and all our 2008 events can be found on this web site under Events/2008.
The Stewartby one is scheduled for 26/27 April.
More details will be posted in the next few weeks.
Cheers
Bob