Iain C
Well-Known Member
OP, I'm 46 years old, I've had 2 rounds of spinal surgery due to slipped discs, I'm a bit heavier and slightly shorter than you, and I've sailed/raced dinghies most of my life...including Mirrors, Toppers, Cherubs, 12 & 18 foot Skiffs, Foiling Moths, 49ers and my current dinghy fleet is a Fireball and an RS700.
With all due respect to this forum, it does tend to be yacht centric, with a slightly older demographic, and you will probably get very different advice on the yachtsandyachting.com forum (which, despite it's name, is very dinghy focussed).
Forget car topping, the end. You are far more likely to damage your back (and your car!) trying that...use a road trailer and launching trolley. The only dinghies you ever really see on car roofs these days are Foiling Moths (incredibly light) and Optimists (kid's boat).
Forget the Topper (kids' boat) and the Pico...it might keep you amused for a weekend, then you will be bored. It is essentially a kid's/youth boat. You are way too big.
The Laser/ILCA is NOT a fast scary boat. Granted it is quite physical, and will capsize reasonably easy on a windy day, however it is easy to reduce power with smaller sails. However they seem to fall into two camps second hand...very cheap old snotters, or newer vastly overpriced items compared to what you actually get for your money (bear in mind I paid sub £2k for my RS700...trapeze skiff with a gennaker, full Harken fit out and a carbon fibre rig plus combi trailer and lots of sails). However they are very popular, very quick to rig, very little to go wrong, and offer good racing (if that's where you wish to end up) at all levels. In fact, the reason they are often considered "racy" is due to numbers sailing, not performance, and slower boats offer closer, more competitive racing. They also make good "beach" boats.
I would not entertain anything wooden unless you prefer maintenance to sailing, and I'd ignore the Mirror. It's more of a father/child boat, and not actually very stable.
The Solo mentioned above is also a good bet, and often very popular with the older sailor as they are quite forgiving.
If your budget would stretch to it, an RS Aero is a good bet...available with three different rigs, light, simple and fast. However it will not be as "bombproof" as a Laser.
Also consider a Comet, a Solution, a Supernova, or a Lightning 368.
However, the absolute golden rule is buy something that is sailed at the club you intend to sail at...as a newbie you will get tons of advice and be able to progress so much faster (as well as making friends more easily) compared to turning up with something where you are the only person sailing one, and trying to figure it all out yourself. And this will inevitably often be a Laser/ILCA (as much as I dislike them!)
With all due respect to this forum, it does tend to be yacht centric, with a slightly older demographic, and you will probably get very different advice on the yachtsandyachting.com forum (which, despite it's name, is very dinghy focussed).
Forget car topping, the end. You are far more likely to damage your back (and your car!) trying that...use a road trailer and launching trolley. The only dinghies you ever really see on car roofs these days are Foiling Moths (incredibly light) and Optimists (kid's boat).
Forget the Topper (kids' boat) and the Pico...it might keep you amused for a weekend, then you will be bored. It is essentially a kid's/youth boat. You are way too big.
The Laser/ILCA is NOT a fast scary boat. Granted it is quite physical, and will capsize reasonably easy on a windy day, however it is easy to reduce power with smaller sails. However they seem to fall into two camps second hand...very cheap old snotters, or newer vastly overpriced items compared to what you actually get for your money (bear in mind I paid sub £2k for my RS700...trapeze skiff with a gennaker, full Harken fit out and a carbon fibre rig plus combi trailer and lots of sails). However they are very popular, very quick to rig, very little to go wrong, and offer good racing (if that's where you wish to end up) at all levels. In fact, the reason they are often considered "racy" is due to numbers sailing, not performance, and slower boats offer closer, more competitive racing. They also make good "beach" boats.
I would not entertain anything wooden unless you prefer maintenance to sailing, and I'd ignore the Mirror. It's more of a father/child boat, and not actually very stable.
The Solo mentioned above is also a good bet, and often very popular with the older sailor as they are quite forgiving.
If your budget would stretch to it, an RS Aero is a good bet...available with three different rigs, light, simple and fast. However it will not be as "bombproof" as a Laser.
Also consider a Comet, a Solution, a Supernova, or a Lightning 368.
However, the absolute golden rule is buy something that is sailed at the club you intend to sail at...as a newbie you will get tons of advice and be able to progress so much faster (as well as making friends more easily) compared to turning up with something where you are the only person sailing one, and trying to figure it all out yourself. And this will inevitably often be a Laser/ILCA (as much as I dislike them!)
