420 dinghy

[MikeBz]

Easy to sail, quite undercanvassed, noo too heavy, plenty of room, option for trapeze & spinnaker if/when you get more adventurous. Ideal.

Mike

 

[balladsailor]

All dinghies will luff when heeled.... try sailing without a rudder! IMHO any 'performance' dinghy needs to be sailed flat..... that's why the 420 has a trapeze.

 

[Pasarell]

Great boat. Will be a handful now but last them several years.
Look carefully when buying at the join between hull and buoyancy tanks in the boat. People sometimes stand in the boat when on a launching trolley to rig it and the joint pops. Can be repaired but it will always be a weak point.

 

[claymore]

Don't know whether this has been mentioned but the 420 is a very easy boat to sail rudderless

 

[fireball]

In my experience - not quite to the extent of the 420 .... it's desire to keep upright usually outweighed our desire to capsize it ... I fell out during a roll gybe (I was helming) and managed to get back in without a capsize ... can't do that in the performance boats these days (I know, I've tried!)

Never tried rudderless in a 420, although did manage centreboardless after rolltacking on the mud /forums/images/graemlins/frown.gif Still - got a nice new plate! /forums/images/graemlins/laugh.gif

IMO Superb little boats - great for those who know how to waggle the tiller and are looking for more fun, can be got quite cheaply and repaired cheaply too!

 

[dom]

The 420 is a great boat for youngsters. The only concern I would have is their weight. Optimal crew weight is I think between 110 and 130kg. A 10 and 13 year old might be on the light side and then sailing will be an effort in any wind. If they are too light why not wait a year rather than buying smaller sails. Next year they will be on your case for full size ones anyway!

My final piece of advice is in relation to trapeze use. In short they need to learn the safety issues pretty clearly and be tested on them before being let loose. Other than that a fantastic choice.