Dinghy for the kids

[landyhubbard]

I want a dinghy for the kids to sail. I have been after a Pico for a while, but no luck- they are few and far between and are snapped-up very quickly. They also seem quite expensive for what they are, I guess reflecting the demand. Any suggestions for alternatives would be helpful. Kids are competent dinghy sailors, not interested in club racing at this stage- just something that is fun and manageable. Car top-able (large car)

 

[fluffc]

The beauty about picos is that, like toppers, they can suffer a fair amount of abuse. Stems from the plastic hull.

They are technically slightly over the weight limit for car topping, so should be towed instead.

If your kids are competent, then perhaps a second hand laser; radial rig if they are not big enough to handle a full rig.

Thinking back to toppers - they are still widly available, even cheaply. And has a good class association. They can now be centre-mained if that's what you kids like.

 

[SimbaDog]

Stick it out for a Pico, brilliant for kids, almost indestructable /forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif

 

[sarabande]

Give Littleton Sailing Club (Chertsey) a call. Their harbour master has a few interesting boats which have been abandoned and may be up for sale .

 

[landyhubbard]

I think you are probably right, but was wondering if a Laser or Topper might be a good alternative, though they have set their hearts on a Pico. Anyone know the max. roof load for a Peugeot 406 estate? No info in handbook as far as I can see. The Pico weighs in at 60kg, but I'm sure I saw one on top of a Focus the other day.

 

[SimbaDog]

If they are competent you could go for a laser, it's obviously a lot more exciting sailing, depends on their ages/weight as well. Got one of those I would sell /forums/images/graemlins/wink.gif
My kids are too young for it, they will only sail the Pico!

 

[Jonny_H]

LDC sell some simalar RS dinghies to the Pico (RS Feva I think) which is very simalar and made of the same injection moulded material so very durable.

As for car topping - Topper / Laser / Pico / RS Feva etc will all be fine. Unlikely they will affect the car provided you have good roof bars (Thule etc) even if slightly over the recommended weight. Having done lots of dinghy racing I've seen allsorts on car roofs on the circuit (Enterprises, RS 400, GP14 etc!)

Jonny

 

[ShaunG]

RS range of boats,

A bit better priced than a Pico, the Tera is great for singlehanded, nabbed a go in my newphews (9 years old) the other day, fantastic fun and rotamoulded the same as the Laser range so will take the same abuse and comes with a choice of sail sizes

 

[Jonny_H]

That's the other one ... knew they did a couple!

 

[oughtoc]

Pico can be a two hander - you say kids. Problem with a topper or a laser is that they are single handers - we've ended up with two oppis followed by 2 toppers as they enjoy the buzz. If you want a two up boat the RS Feva is as versatile as the pico too. However you can pick up two second hand toppers for less than the price of a second hand pico.

I have a 406 estate with the roof bars and have topped plenty of weight with no probs. The top boxes from halfords take 60kg so a pico should be ok too.

 

[wetndry]

Topaz?

 

[DJE]

RS Feva. Mine had one from ages 12 & 13 to 14 & 15 and had a great time. Range of sails available to suit different abilities and loads of racing if they want it.

 

[landlockedpirate]

My kids sail RS Feva's at the local club. Great boats and fairly quick. They are not as hardwaring as they look. All of the club boats have got some form of hull damage, the toppers and lasers they have seem to be in better nick.

Mark

 

[DJE]

True enough, we had our fair share of reapirs on the Feva. But now they've got Lasers and are going through boom fittings and top masts at a rate of knots!

 

[mikefleetwood]

When I was a kid, we had a "Poole Sprat". I've no idea if they still exist? It was about 9', I think, with a tiny sail - some sort of lug so the mast was in two shor sections. Easily lifted onto dad's roofrack. I remember we sailed up the Itchin, into Ipswitch dock and back, with whole family on board (mum, dad and 3 kids!).

We also used it a lot at Olney. I remember a windy weekend when all the Mirrors had run for cover, getting up to a decent speed with our tiny sail!

Not much help, but brings back memories! We had a lot of fun with a very small boat.

 

[Emjaytoo]

The Pico is a great boat. We have just sold ours (unfortunately for you). It was two handed with a small jib and ideally suited to kids. Ours was sold unseen over the 'phone for the asking price (which was quite high for it's age - 2 years). Beware about car topping, we topped ours on a VW Touran - no trouble for the car, but it requires two male adults to lift it up. SWiMBO & I could not manage it.

 

[Superstrath]

We cleaned up an ancient Minisail, great fun for all the family. Mrs S and I can just about get it onto the roof bars of an Espace, at a guess I'd say it weighs abot 40-45 Kg. Anyone can single-hand it, or one adult / one kid works well. Seems to be a match for Toppers on most points of sail. We have 10 days at Loch Morlich coming up shortly, so looking forward to a few hours on the minisail.
I have no idea what one might be worth, or whether or not they are readily available.

Alistair

 

[Superstrath]

Four minisails here for nothing.
Worth considering, imo.

 

[polantom]

As has been mentioned before a Topaz is rather good fun and there is a kids version: the Taz. I have "heard" that an adult can actually sail a Taz too, but you never heard it from me!