Reply To: Ardleigh Frostbite Series
Agree with both Tony and Nick. We need high quality well built boats at the top end of the fleet, but we also need starter boats at a lesser cost. In the 1970 lots of firms used to chuck out cheap and cheerful hulls, ready to go with a rig. Costs of boats today are high because of labour costs. Finishing a boat with paint is nice but time consuming. Adding all the extra bits (boomerangs, chocks, mainsheet block horse, traveller support) are also nice but add more time and more cost. Our builders have developed great boats but at a cost.
Perhaps we should be encouraging a boat builder to produce boats gelled boats in vinylester or polyester if these are cheaper with simpler construction techniques. Use a one or two part deck mould. Snap them out and glue them together. Screw a few fittings on and out the door. Seamark Nunn used to produce two of these a week. It takes our current builders up to two months to make one boat (if you’re lucky).
If we could lower the cost of the hull, then the cost of the rig won’t seem so bad. The goal has to be a ready to go boat for under 5k. A mast builder in the UK would also help. I really don’t think though that we should be looking at rejuvenating old metal masts. The future is carbon and we need to find a workable solution for reliable and economical kit. Metal masts are fine for really old boats and those who want to tinker, but if someone is buying a new boat it should really have a reasonably priced carbon mast in it.
What we really need is a builder who is willing to do this.
