ALBACORE - THE RIGHT CHOICE
When you think how many classes of dinghy there are available its
perhaps a little surprising that a design now approaching 50 years
old is still holding its own among Britain's active fleets. There
are a number of good reasons for its continuing popularity
DESIGNED TO LAST
First of all the class is a "restricted", which means
that the hull shape and sail plan are not allowed change from year
to year. This has two benefits, ensuring that this year's boat is
not obsolete next season, and at the same time allowing lots of
freedom for owners to plan and fit control systems to suit themselves.
The class has moved with the times in other ways, adopting most
of the new materials for hull, rig and sail construction, but only
once proven and at a sensible cost. This is to avoid the extremes
of cheque-book sailing and thus maintaining the value and competitiveness
of existing boats.
OLD BOATS COMPETITIVE
In fact, in almost all Albacore fleets there are examples of 20
year old boats, lovingly maintained, costing only a few hundreds
of pounds second hand and winning races every weekend, much to the
irritation of the higher sail numbers! Michael McNamara's world
champion boat was around 20 years old.
VERSATILE
Another reason for its' continuing popularity is the fact that an
Albacore is very versatile without compromising its performance.
So while it's quicker than a Laser, it's not so cumbersome as a
Wayfarer and weighs a lot less than a GP14 (even though it's a foot
longer and much roomier). This good balance between power, weight
and size makes it attractive to sail for two adults, but it's equally
handleable crewed by an adult and child, or husband and wife (or
wife and husband even!) whether racing, cruising or just pottering
about. Of course, part of the beauty of the relaxed approach to
rigging is that the helm can have all the controls fed back to him,
or rig the boat so that absolutely all he has to do is to steer
and remember to duck!
ACTIVE CLASS
At the last count there were around 90 clubs around the country
with fleets of between 3 and 30 boats with many more places where
Albacores are welcomed and sail in handicap fleets.
An active class association puts a lot of effort into ensuring the
continued success of this fine boat, providing a useful and interesting
magazine, organising national championships every year with worlds
every two years shared on a six year cycle between UK - USA - Canada.
The fixture list for the year 2003 will have plenty of opens plus
the Nationals (venue to be arranged). The
2003 Worlds will be in Kingston, Ontario- venue for many
international sailing competitions.
