Judders
Active member
If you can not afford an Impala...
Cheapskates Offshore Racing Club (CORC) - would there be any takers?
- Thread starter MissFitz
- Start date
If you can not afford an Impala...
lw395
Well-known member
Minis are hardly in the cheapskate bracket.
There is quite a lot of round the cans racing in small boats, around the clubs. Problem is usually the tide. A slow small cruiser battling a 2 knot tide on a light wednesday night is painful to watch, let alone being aboard.
It seems to me the appetite for passage racing is limited enough among the big boats, they seem to mostly want to do dinghy courses.
The 1/4 tonners might be worth a look?
MissFitz
Member
Well, I might be more inclined to bankrupt myself for a Mini! I would also note that a) you can pick up a proto pretty cheap & b) even I could afford a decent marina berth for a boat of 6.5m LOA.
Judders
Active member
I check the listings now and then but haven't seen anything for less than £20k for about five years.
Where are you seeing them?
They'd utterly fail under IRC so I would get spanked in JOG but it'd be great fun none the less!
Where are you seeing them?
They'd utterly fail under IRC so I would get spanked in JOG but it'd be great fun none the less!
MissFitz
Member
I've been obsessively monitoring Mini prices for the past four years but to be fair mainly series boats. Unfortunately, just as the second generation ones were starting to get into my budget (under £20k), sterling went through the floor. And I finally decided it just didn't make sense to buy one when there's no class racing at all in this country (which there was back when I started looking). If there were, I'd still be very tempted by a Zero or Tip Top (well-equipped version of the former on the class website at the moment for €21k), or even a Pogo 1 or Ginto at €10-13k. And Pogo 2s (which is what I really want) are already going for as little as €23k & will be even cheaper after the next Transat. Don't know so much about the protos but I can see a couple for €20k or less at the moment, & I'm told decent older ones have gone for as little as £8k.
They are so much fun, it's so tempting - but it would be a very lonely business being the only Mini in an IRC fleet. Hence the Sonata. Much less fun but a lot cheaper, plus good class racing & much more suitable for piddling around the Solent in.
Alan ashore
Member
Coming a little late to this thread, but I do have sympathy with the sentiments of the original post.
JOG was founded to address more or less the same problem some 70 years ago, but times have certainly changed. While several posters have pointed out that you can still compete in JOG on a very low budget, there's no denying that it is no longer the norm.
So while there is a strong case for saying - "come on all us cheapskates, join JOG and by doing so change the norm", it may seem preferable to be part of a club/fleet populated entirely by people in the same metaphorical boat.
But if you were to found such a club, my guess is that you would start to see the old "inflation" creeping in again next year!
JOG was founded to address more or less the same problem some 70 years ago, but times have certainly changed. While several posters have pointed out that you can still compete in JOG on a very low budget, there's no denying that it is no longer the norm.
So while there is a strong case for saying - "come on all us cheapskates, join JOG and by doing so change the norm", it may seem preferable to be part of a club/fleet populated entirely by people in the same metaphorical boat.
But if you were to found such a club, my guess is that you would start to see the old "inflation" creeping in again next year!
MissFitz
Member
Well yes, that is the thing. I'm sure the JOG guys are all lovely but can't help thinking it would be more fun to be in a crowd of similarly cash-strapped skippers rather than feeling like a poor relation. And again, while I have absolutely nothing against older chaps, it would be great if a smaller boat racing club attracted more young sailors & women. The Mini fleet is fantastic for that - great mix of sexes, most of them on a shoestring budget & so young they make me feel ancient!
howard easton
N/A
Thats life Miss Fitz. By and large the young have no time, no money but lots of energy to do things. We oldies are better off, got lots of time, but the get up and go got up and went. I'd rather be in your position - years are far more valuable than money.
Judders
Active member
I tell you what MissFitz, here's an idea. If your Sonata is ready in time then enter the JOG Yarmouth weekend and we shall make sure that you meet as many of us as possible. Hopefully you'll enjoy the racing and see that not everyone in JOG is over the hill (in fact many crews in cladding six are entirely under forty).
If on the other hand the Sonata is not going to be ready then come and join us on Magic for that weekend. We're not fully crewed up yet so you'd be most welcome.
As an aside, Olly, my Co owner used to be a Sonata sailor of some note having won the class (when Snotties still had one) in the RTIR twice and in Cowes Week. I'm sure he'd have much to pass on.
What do you rec? PM me if you're interested.
If on the other hand the Sonata is not going to be ready then come and join us on Magic for that weekend. We're not fully crewed up yet so you'd be most welcome.
As an aside, Olly, my Co owner used to be a Sonata sailor of some note having won the class (when Snotties still had one) in the RTIR twice and in Cowes Week. I'm sure he'd have much to pass on.
What do you rec? PM me if you're interested.
MissFitz
Member
That is a very kind offer, thanks. PM sent.