Dart 15 Forums

Rob dainty wrote:

When looking at used 15's is a converted Sting a consideration or should you steer clear?

Bob replied:

Hi Rob
Steer well clear of it. There is a lot of similar requests on this chat page & I and others have answered them in some length. Rather than me typing a load of it again try using the seacch facility on this chat page. Try using "mylar" and "capsize" as the string "sting" occurs in many words as I recall. Let us know if it worked OK.
Cheers
Bob

Rob Dainty replied:

Bob, As a newbie to the finer points of the 15. I think I may of confused myself, (not difficult). The boat I am interested in is a conversion, but am assured by Steve Sawford it is a very good boat and worth a look. I suspect everyone in the 15 fleet knows this boat as well. I did find the threads on the "sting", but I am now confident they do not apply to the boat in question.

Andrew Hannah replied:

Hello Rob,

You didn't say what the conversion is. Is it the hulls? Mast? Or what? Have you read the Sprint class rules? If in doubt, you could pay for a measurer to see if the converted Sting conforms with the rules. Don't forget, "buyer beware".

There are nine boats currently for sale on this website. Why not take a look at any of these?

Andrew.

Bob replied:

Hi Rob
Yes 1575 is OK. It is now a complete conversion and as such is indistinguishable from a regular Sprint 15. My comments were directed towards the Sting in it's original form. I miss understood your original request.
Cheers
Bob
PS Trevor applied the thum screws tonight!!

George Stephen replied:

Oh dear ! Does this mean that the only other (reasonably) regular sportster on the (summer) Traveller Series will no longer be competing? Or is Trevor getting a new(er) Sprint 15?

George Stephen

Ow-Much! replied:

I think Trevor is selling his Sprint 15 because you George wouldn't let him win the Sprint Sport Cup this year....! What do you mean the only other reasonably regular sportster on the summer traveller series will no longer be competing? have you information on my imminent retirement?
Trevor Bulmer-Jones rang me last night to say that he was defecting and that 1575 was up for sale, he has bought an A Class, with this he will seriously improve his impact velocity with his new sailing chums..!and destroy his no claims policy, SS Marine being the biggest loser here as Steve can usually rely on a bit of regular business. Finally Trev, hope to see you around the Cat circuit it's been a pleasure and perhaps one day you might return to the Sprint 15 class.

Trevor Bulmer-Jones replied:

Yes its true I am defecting to an A Class but I still should keep Steve in business and he is already stocking up on extra materials. I would also like to thank all the 15 sailors over the past three years for some great fun both on and off the water and hope to bump in to some of you in the future (but not literally)

George Stephen replied:

I reckon that reasonably regular Sportsters are those that sail enough events for their series results not to include a DNS - for 2006 that meant 3 or more events.

Trevor sailed 3 - hence his being "reasonably regular".
David Casale and Robin Leather, with their family commitments, sailed just the final event at Grafham.
Keith Bridger sailed just at his home club, Carsington.
Ray Gall and George Love sailed Sport Mode at their home club, Carsington, and just the one away event at Grafham.

There are just 6 Travellers next summer, best 3 to count. You know I sail both modes. My initial intention is to sail Sport Mode at Thorpe Bay, Angmering and Seasalter (unless the wind conditions are unfavourable for Sport Mode) and sail Unarig at Halifax (definite, cos it's too small), Carsington and Grafham. But the best made plans can fall apart, perhaps due to health or injury problems, or perhaps due to the efforts of "reasonably regular competitors" exceeding mine - not that difficult. So whoever you are behind the pseudonym, I'll say "hooray" if you sail Sport Mode in enough events next year to be "reasonably regular", and hope that we'll be joined by lots of other sportsters.

George

PS When talking with Gordon about his working all hours to pay for both his new boat and a new kitchen, he told me about having a lift with a Sprinter and his wife. During conversation he mentioned that Sally was going to have a new kitchen later in the year. Gordon said that the ensuing body language and initial silence suggested that he'd touched a very sore point - as though the fellow Sprinter's reaction to his wife's most reasonable request for a new kitchen were "Ow-Much"? Is there any connection here, or is it sheer coincidence?

AndrewHannah replied:

George, your post about boats and kitchens reminds me of a friend of mine at Thorpe Bay. He is Robin Foster-Taylor.

For some time, Robin had promised a new kitchen for his wife, Jane. Unfortunately, other priorities came to be in the way. Robin was rather taken by a Dart 18 that he happenned to see at the boat show. He thought how wonderful it would be to enter the world championships, which had an unbelivable entry of 308.

You can guess what Robin did. Yes, and the boat's name was "Jane's Kitchen"!

Rest assured George, you will be welcome at Thorpe Bay in whichever mode you choose to race.

Andrew,
TBYC.