MX Ray - Downwind Sizzle, Upwind Fizzle

Plenty of excitement downwind, but not a boat to be in with a ten mile beat to get home

The MX Ray comes from the drawing board of Vlad Murnikov, designer of the rather unusual 1989 Russian Whitbread yacht, Fazisi. If you were around to remember that boat, you’ll see the similarity. It has the same radical shape, and the distinctive sweeping shear line.

The MX Ray claims to be 'one of the fastest single-handed dinghies in the world'. Peter Bentley went along for MadforSailing on a brisk, 15-to-18 knot day, to put her potential to the test. He came back to report that she might be one of, but is definitely not the fastest.

The MX Ray is fundamentally a one-man skiff with an alternative appearance. The rig also looks and is unusual, with its substantially pre-bent mast and lots of luff curve. It’s very soft by dinghy standards, so setting up the mast and sail is closer to windsurfing practice.

On the MadforSailing Overall Rating the MX Ray didn’t shine, a lot of that stemming from the fact that the boat is simply horrible to sail upwind. Much of this pedestrian performance stems from the mast, it’s underdeveloped and too soft sideways. On the upside, her stunning downwind speed cannot be ignored. She proved to be quick and fun, blasting along at blistering speeds on a reach with the kite up. Performance is very much in the skiff class, with the apparent wind coming forward very rapidly as the kite fills.

Gybing is no harder than in a Laser, and in ordinary circumstances hoisting the spinnaker proves reasonably easy. The few fittings are well placed. The combined halyard and tack line system features a reverse 1:3, requiring a pull of just over a metre to get the sail up. That makes for a fast hoist, and getting the kite down is not much harder. But upwind is her bugbear, and about the only good thing to be said about it was the hiking position on the rounded side decks. And even then, we could criticise the limited adjustment of the single toe strap. Other criticism hovers around how tricky the MX Ray is to sail. The hull has a very fine entry and full stern, which makes the boat sensitive to both heel, and fore and aft trim.

In fact, this is a sit-down windsurfer. Not an obviously good idea, and it’s difficult to get the best out of the boat upwind in particular - sheeting in and hiking out is not enough. The top of the mast bends off in the gusts, significantly opening the upper leech and depowering the rig. All the drive remains in the bottom of the sail and it's important to work with this, plenty of physical input is needed to keep it going. And this doesn't change much once you turn around to go downwind. Offwind balance is an issue and it's important not only to get in the right place fore and aft, but to keep the body movements going to help with the steering.

The MX Ray is certainly unusual. As with all new products that break an existing mould, it will not be for everyone. But its cause isn’t helped by the lack of development the basic concept has received. At best - worth a try by anyone looking for a blast in a one man skiff.

Rants The rig’s a disaster
Raves Quick downwind

Photo by Peter Bentley

The Nitty Gritty

Ease of Sailing

Leaving the beach is easy enough, with the rudder swinging down and the centreboard dropping easily through the slot. After that, things get a little more sketchy. There's no doubt that the very fine entry and full stern make the boat sensitive to both heel and fore and aft trim. Those used to more conventional dinghies will find that it's easy to sit too far forward. The centre of buoyancy in this boat is set well aft and it's important to keep your weight in precisely the right place in order to establish the proper trim. Otherwise, you’ll be mining for oysters before you know it.

Then there’s the mast; to the conventional dinghy sailor the rig will look unusual, with its substantially pre-bent mast and lots of luff curve. It performs more like a windsurfer rig than a dinghy mast, with the top bending off in the gusts, significantly opening the upper leech and depowering the rig. It requires a physical performance from the helmsman - with sheet adjustments, body and rudder movement - to get the best from the boat. Getting the MX Ray going upwind requires more than just sheeting in and hiking out.

It’s the same story downwind, balance is an issue and it's important not only to get in the right place fore and aft, but also to keep the body movements going. With the spinnaker up, the key to rapid progress downwind seems to be cleating the main and working the boat through the waves, using a combination of body weight, steering and spinnaker sheet. Once mastered - and it took a while - gybing is no harder than in a Laser. What we didn’t realise initially is that the mainsail, rather than the spinnaker, is the key. Simply bearing away with the main cleated doesn't work. Even if you get into the gybe satisfactorily, coming out on the new gybe the sail will be over-sheeted and you’ll be swimming - like us. Better instead to perform a classic bear away, easing both the main and spinnaker sheets. The smart (and coordinated) helmsman can then give the sheet a quick flick to bring the boom over, before cleating the main and attending to the spinnaker. Honest, it's easier than it sounds.

Systems and Layout

The mast and spinnaker systems on the MX Ray are an inevitable focus, as there aren’t many unstayed single-hander rigs around which also fly kites. The mast is very similar to modern carbon windsurfing tubes and is made in two pieces by Fibrespar. The monofilm, sleeved-luff sail from North fits over the mast with the added complication of 'camber inducers' on the lower two battens, very much ‘a la windsurfer’. The tension in these two is especially important to the final look of the rig. The spinnaker halyard feeds through a cut-out in the luff sleeve and it’s important to make sure everything is lined up. With the sail in place, the rig can be dropped in the mast tube, and the boom attached.

In ordinary circumstances hoisting the spinnaker proves reasonably easy. The combined halyard and tack-line system features a reverse 1:3, requiring a pull of just over a metre to get the sail all the way up. Though this can make for a fast hoist, the loads are also increased and the whole thing does need a fairly substantial pull to get it aloft. More significantly, if the spinnaker has filled with water for any reason (and it did during our test) a really big tug is needed to hoist the sail. Getting the kite down is no harder than getting it up, although there does seem to be a lot of downhaul to pull in. The rest of the fittings - and there aren’t many - are pretty well-sorted and do the job.

Performance

Two stories here - upwind and downwind. The good news first, downwind performance is very much in the skiff class, the MX Ray blasts along at blistering speed with the kite up on a reach. That also brings in all the usual factors of skiff/apparent wind sailing. In a race situation, picking the right downwind angle will be critical. While the MX Ray undoubtedly provides a great big shot of adrenaline while reaching, upwind performance is pedestrian and in the reviewer’s opinion, it’s difficult to get the best out of the boat. Good coordination between the sheets, rudder and helm position really are required to get her going. But do it well and the MX Ray is a real blast.

Build Quality

The MX Ray is built from biaxial GRP, with a foam sandwich deck. The hull doesn’t have any subdivisions, but there are two separate buoyancy bags within the hull to keep the MX Ray afloat in the event of serious damage. The overall fitting out and finish was fine, everything seemed to work. EC requirements ensure that all new boats now come with some kind of instruction manual, but few are as comprehensive or as well laid out as the one that comes with the MX Ray. In addition to all the usual details on how to rig the boat - including the length and diameter of every rope - and even how to sail it to good effect, there is a good section on emergency procedures. This included advice on what to do in the event of all kinds of disasters including broken masts, lost rudders and the like. It’s not a good reason to buy the boat, but we thought it deserved a mention.

Anticipated Durability

Only one real concern, there’s no wear ring on either the mast or mast tube. The importer told us that he was confident that the two year old test rig - which has been used a great deal - had plenty of life left in it. But then, he would say that, wouldn’t he?

Quality of Race Circuit

As far as we know, there isn’t one. And with this baby’s performance upwind, I wouldn’t be too encouraged to try handicap club racing either.

Value for Money

A fun beach boat, and if that’s all you want then fine. But the MX Ray is unlikely to establish itself well enough to provide the boats with much more than oddity resale value.