Sun 2000 / First 21.7 and heavier seas

[ranskis]

Hello,

I have the opportunity to sail either boat soon, I'm wondering how they compare in moderate weather, say F4/F5 and moderate sea.

Sailing upwind with such conditions, would the first 21.7 point much better ?

Both are lightweights so I'm not expecting miracles, but I wonder if there is a significant difference.

Cheers,
Alex

 

[Yacht Yogi]

RTI results comparison

I sailed the Round The Island Race a couple of years ago in Sun2000 "Mirage". In our group were a number of Sun 2000s and First 211s & 21.7s but at the end of the race there was no clear advantage to either type. I would suggest that the Firsts were going a bit better upwind and the Suns a bit better downwind, both with assymetric spinnakers. Conditions varied from light through to F5.

Apart from the skill of the crew, the boat with ther best upwind sails would probably get the best result. The Sun 2000 needs as much weight on the rail as you can muster and needs to be sailed flat. The Firsts didn't seem to matter much, within reason.

Both are great fun little boats, I think.

 

[ranskis]

Many thanks for your feedback !
Eager to try, I've sailed dinghies and larger cruisers but nothing inbetween yet

 

[arfa]

I sail a first 211 and it is basically a big dinghy with a heavyish keel for a light weight boat. 211's point fine up wind but you will have to reduce sail significantly in a force 5 otherwise you'll be flat on your side.
Force 5 tends to be my limit but others are happy to sail in heavier conditions.
The major limitation of the 211 is motoring in lumpy seas as the outboard can end up out of the water - not ideal when you want to head for home !

 

[DJE]

Also sailed a 211 a couple of times. Brilliant in light winds but beating down the West Solent into a F6 wind against tide was a bit worrying. We were deep reefed but in the heavier gusts we were heeling, spilling wind, and going sideways. Much more wind and it would have been impossible to get the boat to windward.