On Oct 6, 11:44 pm, Eric Greenwell wrote:
Roger Hurley wrote:
So, be constructive, iron out the spec, and maybe there
will be interest in designing the glider, and in producing
it quickly enough, in enough places, and in sufficient
quantity to make the one-design concept fly again.
Who knows, maybe more than one one-design will emerge
- just like dinghy racing. And that would be cool.

Do people buy a dinghy just to go sailing most of the time, and race
only once or twice a year? Or are they bought primarily for racing? If
it's the later, we may not learn anything by comparing one design racers
in gliders and sailboats, because most people don't/won't buy a glider
for just racing.

It varies. There is no single pattern in dinghy sailing. I brought
mine to go dinghy racing - it's the only way to make sailing on a tiny
puddle interesting. However a friend who races the same class also
has another different one-design dinghy he uses to potter around with
his son. He & I race Lightning 368, I think his pottering boat is a
Heron.

Dinghy sailing has gone through a sea-change in the past 30 years.
Firstly GRP boats became a practical proposition, and good designs
intended to be built in GRP came along. Secondly, in the UK racing
world there has been a big move away from the more complicated 2-man
boats to simple 1-man boats, like the Laser. There are lots of
reasons, include that developing an effective 2-man racing team takes
a lot of time & effort, that 2-man boats are more expensive to buy &
keep (maintenance, insurance), and that both members of the team need
pretty much equal amounts of time & money to dedicate to their sport.