RS 300 - a single-hander of sophistication

That still manages to live life on the edge of wild ...

The RS300 is an innovative boat, with its wide wings and narrow waterline. It not only takes dinghy design forward, but is also great fun to sail.

The Clive Everest and RS-developed single-hander has a choice of two rigs - it is supplied with only one - and on the madforsailing test we used the larger B rig.

This mast is normally suited to crews over 75-80 kg, but our light weight test-pilot Shirley Robertson tried the boat on a predominantly soft Solent day. A few good puffs came through though, and weighing only 58 kg the boat accelerated from two to ten knots in as many seconds.

The team was certainly impressed with the simplicity of the rigging. Control lines are easily lead and the sail hoists effortlessly. The toe-straps adjust quickly and the hiking is comfortable (if such a thing can ever be said).

Offwind, the RS300 flies in all breezes, and is noticeably quick to plane. The unstayed rig offered the opportunity to run by the lee, Laser-style, although we got the most spectacular speeds by sailing a little higher. The racers will need to work out if this gives a faster VMG, but there’s no question that overall the RS 300 is an exceptionally pacey single-hander.

We had our gripes, such as the difficulty in getting the RS 300 off the slipway. She's a bit tippy and was constantly powered up by the fully-battened sail - you need some help to get waterborne which is unfortunate for a single-hander. Getting the centreboard down in the case - which was a little too tight for it - was complicated by a clever elasticated hold-down device. This did at least allow the board to cant aft in the event of grounding.

Although easy to right from a capsize, getting back in was a challenge. There's not enough buoyancy to stop a repeat flip to windward, but with a bit of wind on the rig this problem should be significantly reduced. The unstayed and unsecured rig looked a little soft sideways and this may hurt pointing relative to a handicap fleet. The control lines got around our feet and a fly-away system was needed. But that's about it on the down-side - and generally the boat is well sorted.

The bigger conceptual question is whether this boat is a little too innovative for a mass market. And the smallish racing fleets - by RS standards - may indicate the affirmative. Extraordinarily good fun to sail, but at the same time she's a little overshadowed by her bigger sisters, the RS600 and RS700 along with the Musto Skiff, as the ultimate single-handed weapon.

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The Nitty Gritty

Ease of Sailing

As is often the case when sailing alone, the only place you really needed more than one person was on the slipway. The RS300 was no more difficult to handle than the majority of other single-handers, but her relative lack of initial stability and the ever-present drive from the sail supported by full length upper battens did require some determined control.

Getting aboard in the very light winds prevailing as we left the slipway seemed best accomplished via the low-set stern. With more breeze, a sheet-in and shuffle over the gunwale would undoubtedly prove simplest.

The boat seemed short on initial stability, especially at rest, but this changed rapidly, once the wings (or should this be topsides?) touched down in the water. At rest this makes the RS300 much simpler to deal with than might be expected, while under way it provided an avenue of escape from positions that would prove hopeless in other boats.

Upwind the RS300 was as well-balanced as one could ever hope. There is just enough weight in the helm to provide feedback, without ever needing more than the lightest touch to keep her on course. Steering was positive and quick, thanks to a large rudder - borrowed, like the centreboard, from the RS400.

As narrow on the waterline as she is wide across the gunwales, the RS300 is nothing if not easily driven. LDC's Nick Peters claimed it is possible to get her planing upwind in a breeze, but optimum VMG is probably best attained in displacement mode.

Upwind, the vang was really the primary control, with the sheet used simply to control the boom angle. Those coming to the RS300 from classes where windward performance is simply a matter of pulling the sheet in hard, will have to learn quickly that optimum upwind performance is achieved with the boom end almost out over the quarter.

As with any boat, hiking harder will make a difference to performance, but with such a wide boat small changes in hiking position do not have such a pronounced effect.

We had previously heard some adverse comment on the RS300's performance when capsized, so we were keen to put this all-important aspect of her abilities to the test. Once on her side she proved remarkably stable, and with the sealed mast providing plenty of buoyancy there was absolutely no tendency to invert. A quick swim round to the other side and the boat was easily righted with just one hand pulling down on the centreboard.

But it was here that things got a bit more tricky, and even the presence of a righting line under the gunwale failed to facilitate an easy arrival back onboard. The boat was superbly stable when well heeled, but there didn't appear to be enough buoyancy in the topsides to stop the repeat flip-to-windward phenomenon, at least in the very light winds prevailing at the time. However, we're confident that with a bit of wind load on the rig, righting shouldn’t be a problem. As it was, boarding over the transom presented no difficulties.

And after watching us struggle for a while, Nick Peters decided to advise us of the much quicker - though strictly non-approved - recovery method he and Hyde Sails' chief tester, Mike Lennon, had evolved in developing the boat. Once in the water, it's quite possible to scramble up the boom, onto the lower section of the mast and thence jump over the top, all without pushing the mast under the water. From the centreboard it was a piece of cake, simply lean back and as she started to come up, hop over the narrow section forward for a near-instantaneous recovery.

Like so much to do with sailing this boat, it doesn't quite follow the normal rules, but it's simple enough once you work out the technique. It’s a boat that will allow a quick introduction to high performance sailing, while retaining enough mystique to allow the more experienced to work hard at extracting her optimum. The challenges and opportunities are not so different from moving to a twin-trapeze boat or a short board.

Systems and Layout

Rigging doesn't get much simpler. The two-piece mast slots together and drops into the mast tube. The only real decision to make is the position of the single mast chock; forward for rake in a breeze, aft to go more upright in the light stuff. A sacrificial Delrin ring at deck level along with a metal pivot at the bottom of the mast should ensure that everything enjoys a long life, and is easily replaceable. This is probably the first and only boat ever designed with a hole drilled in the bottom, allowing any water that accumulates in the mast cup to simply drain away.

The RS300 is available with a choice of two rigs, but we kept our test simple, opting to use just the bigger 'B' rig. According to Nick Peters, the 'A' rig is only slightly smaller, with just 0.75 square metres less sail and a 300mm shorter mast. The real difference comes in a softer, more bendy lower mast section and marginally flatter sail for the 'A' rig.

Unlike many of the so-called weight compensation classes, the RS300 sticks to very simple principles with each boat supplied with just one rig. Those below 75 kg get to sail with the 'A' rig while those over 80 kg get the 'B' rig. Between these two weights, it's a matter of discretion, though the rules are worded in such a way as to ensure only one rig is used in a regatta.

In many respects the rig is pivotal to the success of the boat. Although all the individual elements have been seen before, the way in which the unstayed rig, upside-down vang and hard Mylar sail have been combined is quite revolutionary. Initial concerns that a 'hard' sail on an unstayed mast would prove unsatisfactory were quickly allayed. And the test went on to demonstrate that the LDC, Hyde and Superspars alliance have developed a quite outstandingly versatile combination.

The key to this versatility is the excellent match between sail shape and mast stiffness along with the highly effective vang. Second only to the mainsheet in importance, the upward-pointing vang arm works to bend the mast and thus flatten the sail while at the same time tightening the leech. Good dynamics in the mast-top ensure an excellent gust response and plenty of scope for physical action to keep the boat moving fast in a sea. Though we never got a chance to see it in a real breeze, a big pull on the vang - just to see what would happen - produced a pretty flat sail.

Our only criticism of the mast/sail combo was that in comparison to other unstayed rigs, the mast looks a trifle soft sideways. This may ultimately hurt pointing, but that’s only ever going to be a concern when racing against other boats in a handicap fleet.

The control lines are all easily led and the sail hoists effortlessly, locking at the top with a simple cleat. The cunningham does have an effect on the luff and upper leech, but it's not nearly so pronounced as one might expect from an all-Mylar sail on account of the soft Dacron luff panel.

The securing arrangements for the control lines left a loop of rope that all too easily seems to catch around your feet. A retrieval system is allowed in the class rules and would undoubtedly prove effective in solving the problem. But generally the fittings are all well positioned and efficient.

Aside from the rig and sail controls, getting the centreboard down in the case was made harder on our test boat by a board that was marginally too tight for the case. It’s also complicated by a clever elasticated hold-down device, which allows the board to cant aft in the event of grounding. In contrast, the rudder simply swings down and cleats in position. And hiking is as comfortable as it ever gets with the adjustable straps giving a choice of options from straight-leg to hunchback of Notre Dame.

All in all, a well sorted boat.

Performance

With a weight of just 58 kg it would be pretty surprising if the RS300 did not do some serious accelerating in the gusts. And as anyone who has sailed there will know, it doesn't get much gustier than the Hill Head area of the Solent in a northerly breeze. Shirley's startled exclamation, "we're off" saw both wind and boat shoot from two knots to ten in as many seconds, and left the chase boat trailing.

Off-wind (as you might expect) she's a real flyer and not only in a breeze. High speed planing comes easily on the narrow, if flat, aft sections - but it's the boat's uncanny ability to reduce her wetted surface with a little bow down trim and keep on flying in lighter conditions that really impressed us.

The unstayed rig offers the opportunity to run by the lee, Laser-style, but the truly electric performance increase facilitated by reaching up a bit, may provide a quicker route to the leeward mark. Perhaps more significantly, the rewards in terms of excitement and performance are just as great.

Build Quality

The construction follows the normal LDC practice with a foam sandwich hull and deck, produced from high quality, epoxy modified vinylester resin, and glass. No complaints there, then.

Anticipated Durability

Nothing led us to believe that this wasn’t as well put together as every other RS product, she shouldn’t give you any trouble.

Quality of Race Circuit

There is something on almost every weekend in the UK for the RS300, regularly joined by others in the RS range. That includes balls and parties and several overseas events. The details are on an excellent, well-presented website and the RS Class Association is run by a full-timer. But while the RS Circuit is extremely well-organized and attended by the others in the range, there are comparatively few 300s competing at National level. But no less than 81 boats out of 170 built were ranked in the circuit's overall points series last year, which is a very good following.

Value for Money

It’s not a particularly cheap single-hander, but then, it’s not as simple as a Laser - you pays your money and you takes your choice. This is a sophisticated little boat, with plenty of good racing. If that’s what you’re after, then it’s money well spent.