On Oct 7, 1:37 am, Papa3 wrote:
On Oct 6, 3:29 pm, (Doug Hoffman) wrote:





Eric Greenwell wrote:
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.

Speaking as one who raced/sailed one design small sailboats for
several
decades (Lightnings, Flying Juniors, two classes of scows), I
can tell you it is 95% racing. This my own experience and from
observing others.

If people are buying gliders mostly for non-contest flying, a
new,
"low-cost", one design racer will never be able to compete in
value with
the used market. It will either be "priced right" but have
lower
performance, or "perform right" and cost a lot more. I think
the flaw in
the one-design concept is thinking a lot pilots like the
concept enough
to actually make any sacrifice in cost or performance to get
one.

Excellent point. The sailboat analogy breaks down.

Regards,
Doug

--
Posted via a free Usenet account fromhttp://www.teranews.com

If you look at something like the Lightning (I crewed on one for two
seasons) it was actually designed to be a reasonably pleasant day
sailer that also raced (or, a good racer that also was capable of
being a family day sailer). Again, though, the issue is price.
If I could get a second generation 30 foot Pearson for the same price
as a Lightning, how many Lightnings do you think would sell?

Very confusing. In the UK the Lightning is a self-draining 12' single-
hander with an unstayed very flexible mast and loose-footed sail!
Spending 5 consecutive hours in one is a similar hell to a 5-hour
glider flight except that 'comfort' arrangements are easier - unless
it's winter and one is wearing a dry suit...