Albacore dinghy crews: response, please!

[Iain C]

Dan

Ignore that review. Many of the comments on that review, plus the rest of the website it came from, leads me to the conclusion that the guy does not have a clue what he's talking about.

An Albacore is dangerously fast, but the 29er is perfect?? The Laser needs a trapeze if the sail goes any bigger than standard?? (Rooster 8.1 take note!) The Alberbarge is over ragged, however 420s aren't any good because if your crew goes out on the wire in light winds they end up in the water. And gybing a dinghy in a blow with the plate down results in a swim...no **** Sherlock!

The Internet is a wonderful resource for information, but you also get drivel like this. Personally, I would count his reviews about as credible as the group test of mountain bikes the Daily Wail ran last year where they'd assembled half the bikes with the forks on backwards. And no, I do NOT read the Mail!

 

[Greenheart]

Good point. I didn't want to believe the writer's negativity, but to be fair, his disdain for the Albacore only seemed to sum up what a lot of others have suggested.

 

[Neil_Y]

Iain is absolutely right, he's talking rollocks.

Too much sail area 11.6sqm in a 15ft boat? when a Merlin rocket has 14sqm in a 14ft boat, now they are tippy! they also fill when capsized but they have a kite as well and no trapeze how on earth does anyone manage to sail them?

 

[Stork_III]

Good point. I didn't want to believe the writer's negativity, but to be fair, his disdain for the Albacore only seemed to sum up what a lot of others have suggested.

Albacores are easy to sail, but difficult to sail well. Before you talk of adding a trapese I suggest you try one in a fair breeze, plenty of a handful as they are, quick in drifting conditions if sailed properly.

 

[Enterprise6]

Sail my Albacore reguarly as family a potterer (me, SWMBO, two kids and dog) on many occassions at Chichester also raced reguarlly with myself and 14 year old son, we love it seems to answer all our needs

 

[PeterV]

I have sailed an Albacore several times and raced against them a lot. I don't know what experience the guy has but most of his comments are laughable. The Albacore is a very easy baot to sail in comparison to most other racing dinghies. It is far less work to sail upwind in strong winds than many other boats and is faster than almost all other non-trapeze dinghies in these conditions. It's also fast in light winds too and it's no more unstable downwind than any other dinghy. I can only believe he either has very limited abilities or is comparing an Albacore with an undercanvased cruising dinghy.

 

[rwoofer]

Have to say an Albacore does very well in my club races sailed by a more mature gentleman. He seems very happy with it. I think the best thing you can do is have a go.

On another note, I recently demo'd a Topper Omega as a family dinghy and was really surprised how tippy it was - sometimes descriptions by others and your own experience just don't tally.

 

[FWB]

I learnt to sail in an Albacore in the late 60's on the Humber.
It taught me two things....
1. I loved sailing
2. If I ever owned a boat I wouldnt want it in brown water.
.
I still love sailing and my boat is in Cornwall

 

[Kukri]

I have been thinking about rebuilding an Albacore as a simple cruising dinghy.

This will invite a chorus of "Buy a Wayfarer or a Wanderer" but my thought process is that the Albacore is a very light boat, and much easier to manage off the water.

I would go for a gunter lug rig, so that the spars come into the boat as you reef, and so that she won't capsize if you try to sleep aboard with a tent.

Is this mad?

 

[Greenheart]

Is this mad?

The opposite of mad, I'd say. I was thoroughly persuaded that the Albacore makes a great, roomy, characterful little cruiser, with a plentiful supply of oldies about. I nearly bought a gunter-rigged Alb myself a couple of years back.

I only went in another direction because the Osprey is considerably bigger, faster, has a trapeze to help deal with heeling (and allows my ineradicable loony streak to show), and because I suddenly found an affordable old one available, not on the Scottish borders without a trailer, as so many are...

...otherwise I'd still think Alb. As to her intrinsic lack of form stability, I suspect it's not as serious as is sometimes claimed.

The Osprey is around the 140kg mark, and I reckon it's no great weight, on the trolley, though it felt appallingly heavy on the road trailer. The Albacore is 30kg lighter.

 

[jwilson]

I have sailed an Albacore, in various conditions, and rather liked it. There are though probably better dinghies around now.

Also sailed one many years ago, I thought it a rather nice handling boat, and fairly fast in rough water. It is though a very old design, one of the first generation of planing hulls that followed on from Uffa's "Avenger".

 

[Ruffles]

I'm afraid that although I love looking at the older dinghy designs I would go for a modern roll moulded plastic dinghy. So much more comfortable and surprisingly stable. Although they cost loads more, if you buy second hand, you could probably get your money back in 12 months. I guess it depends how much spare time you have.

 

[Enterprise6]

Personally I love my Alb I race it with my teenage son and have sailed it single handed, I have cruised it with the same set of sails I use for racing, even had it 4 up and a dog on board. Yes shes an old boat and old design but that's part of the character

 

[Phoenix of Hamble]

I've sailed an Albacore a fair bit too....

IMHO, ignore all the negativity.... if you want a boat that is fun to sail, and will carry on teaching you long after you've mastered the basics, then its a fine choice.

Yes, you can find faster boats, more stable boats, boats easier to gybe and tack, boats easier to get up wind quickly, boats easier to get downwind quickly, boats that right more easily, etc etc etc.... but the Albacore is just plain fun to sail!

Its also quite a technical boat to get the most out of.... many were fitted with tuning aids like mast rams... all stuff to learn how to use, and will teach you an awful lot that will help you when you sail a big boat such as how to flatten the main properly.

 

[Kukri]

The opposite of mad, I'd say. I was thoroughly persuaded that the Albacore makes a great, roomy, characterful little cruiser, with a plentiful supply of oldies about. I nearly bought a gunter-rigged Alb myself a couple of years back.

I only went in another direction because the Osprey is considerably bigger, faster, has a trapeze to help deal with heeling (and allows my ineradicable loony streak to show), and because I suddenly found an affordable old one available, not on the Scottish borders without a trailer, as so many are...

...otherwise I'd still think Alb. As to her intrinsic lack of form stability, I suspect it's not as serious as is sometimes claimed.

The Osprey is around the 140kg mark, and I reckon it's no great weight, on the trolley, though it felt appallingly heavy on the road trailer. The Albacore is 30kg lighter.

Thank you; I shall press on!

I recall from somewhere that the Alb, the Flying Fifteen and the Uffa Fox Fairey 14's all have the same rig, (or rather,perhaps, that Uffa could not be bothered to draw a new rig...)

 

[Greenheart]

My earlier researches on Albacores, in particular on how to rig one for singlehanding in brisk weather, led me to notice that the Firefly's sailplan is almost identical...effectively she's a 20% smaller version, so the Firefly's mainsail might be a good one to keep in the Albacore's cruising kit.

I found a web-page dedicated to modifications made to an Albacore, by a now-deceased enthusiast, incorporating the Firefly main...it's here I think, and well worth a look: http://lachlan.bluehaze.com.au/chalk_river/2007/aep2007/03sep2007a/

 

[Kukri]

Thanks, Dan - we have two Fireflies in the family...one of which has a small mainsail for heavy weather! So no shortage of Firefly sails...

 

[Gymnopedie]

In 2010 on a crossing from Newlyn to Scilly, about 10 miles on from Landsend, I saw a small sailing craft ahead and when about 1/2 mile off identified it through binoculars as a dinghy. I closed to within hailing distance by which time the sail emblem of an Albacore was clear to see. The single handed crew responded with a thumbs up and I caried on. I kept an eye out for him around the islands but no sign. Weather on the crossing was NW 3-4.

Sounds to me like a well found vessel.

 

[Greenheart]

I remember reading Gymnopedie's account a year or two back, and feeling for sure that the Albacore was what I wanted for seagoing. I've certainly heard similar tales of other humble craft, but it does most often seem to be the older classes which are adroitly designed with seaworthiness in mind...

...and, to my eyes at least, they're any amount more beautiful than the weird angular slabby designs of recent decades.

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[westernman]

The Albacore is a nice boat. But you will never sleep in one afloat - it will roll a lot. A lot more than a Wayfarer in the same conditions.