Micro sailboat?

[GTiGuy]

I was at the Denver Boat Show recently and a local yacht club had a small sailboat displayed in its booth. It was a scaled down 12 meter replica, I am guessing no longer then 9' with a beam of about 3'. Approaching it I thought it was just a large model but the closer I got I realized it had a small cockpit and a rudder pedal steering. The rig looked beautifully put together, it seriously looked like a serious setup. I looked it over quick and was told it was built in Germany and a pretty good little sailor, but I took no picture and I was unable to get any more information then that. Has anyone ever seen this design or know anything about a similar boat? I am really interested in finding some information, plans...anything! Thank you

[mholguin]

I think this is a 2.4 meter, if memory serves any good

Check the Neo 495 thread here for several small sit-in keelboats including illustrations/pix of the 2.4 meter which has been selected(along with the Skud 18) for the Paralympics.

[Small Wally]

The website for the 2.4mR Class Association. And yes, they are way cool.

http://www.inter24metre.org/

[GTiGuy]

thanks everyone!

[GTiGuy]

wow!! This could be the greatest boat I've ever seen (long been obsessed with scaling down high-performance machines, ie. shifter karts and Italian pocketbikes). The American builder, Gavia yachts, is located about 5 minutes from my house. too good to be true.

[messabout]

GTiGuy;
Try one before you buy one. They are cute but do not provide much in the way of thrills. To their credit, they can provide sailing possibilities for handicapped persons.

[Mychael]

My mate that owns the Two (of which I posted the pics) Might disagree with you.
Although not as fast as a full sized boat, he tells me he gets very wet with lots of heel and the boats can cope quite well in rough conditions.

Mychael

[Crag Cay]

do not provide much in the way of thrills.

You're right in the sense they don't plane or pull crazy stunts. But what they do do, they do with your eye level only inches above the water. Add to this the conditions they sail them in and it certainly makes it 'thrilling' at times.

But it's true, they are not for those who wish to zip backwards and forwards on a reach screaming 'hee ha!' They are for those that wish to have all the complexity of mounting a 12M campaign but have neither the money nor the friends. Once you've mastered all the sail controls and tactics, you can move on and design your own hull. No need for tank test models - you can drop the real thing straight in and start towing !

This summer is the 100 year celebrations of the International Metre Rule. There is talk of massive celebrations down at Cowes later in the summer. Owning a 2.4M is probably the cheapest way (unless the 1m models are going) of ever getting an invitation to a Royal Yacht Squadron party. You would be able to hob-knob with European royalty and the likes of Bill Koch and Ted Turner at the 'owners' reception. I'm thinking of dragging an old 8M out of the undergrowth here and entering. Obviously it's so rotten I'll have to post a DNS for each race, but the parties will be worth the entry fee alone.

Don't be put off by the 2.4M being used for the para-olympics. This is more a testament to the skills of these sailors rather than an indication of any limitations in the design of the boats.

[kjell]

This is a nice picture.

[messabout]

Hey guys, I did not mean to step on anyones toes. I confess that I have never sailed one of the 2.4s, but I have been in the same water with a small fleet of them. They are lovely, to be sure, but they are necessarily constrained, by the small size, to go slowly. If you wanted to go from point A to point B it would take a much longer time than in, say, a 5 or 6 meter LOA boat. Hull speed for a 2.4 is a small number like 3.5 Kn. That's all my comment was intended to convey but certainly not to demean these little jewels.

[Mychael]

No offence taken Messabout. I only made the comment to pass on an owners perception of the boats. He tells me that of the 2 he owns. Both different types, one is the performer (in relative terms) the other is easier to sail.
He will go out for an entire afternoon, taking food and drink with him.
3.5k sounds about right from what he told me. Occasionly 4k and more if "surfing". He has had knockdowns and often sails with the water up to the gunnels. He describes the boats as being very safe and that they recover easily.

Mychael

[GTiGuy]

I figured that they wouldnt be an all out high performance machine, I really just like the concept of them. They look beautiful just sitting still. If I am in need of an adrenaline fix I can just unrack the Laser or pump up a 15 meter kite; but I think what I originally saw at the boat show was one of the older "Mini-12s". It was slightly smaller then then 2.4 metre and it didnt appear to have as large a draft.

[ukebert]

Looks a little like an illusion, but smaller I think. Where I sail we have one of the biggest illusion fleets in the country, I've never been in one, but it looks so much fun, and they really are tiny. Some of them even have weeny spinnakers.

[TimClark]

GTIGuy, there is a fleet of 2.4 mr's at Noroton Yacht Club(Darien). The class president (Peter Wilson) sails out of Noroton and there are a good amount of boats there.

TC