Sailing Texas review
I stopped by the Sailboat Shop in Austin last week, and Chuck showed me the new RS Feva from Vanguard. It looks so good I wanted to try it out, so we met at the park in Jonestown to give it a spin.
We spent 20 minutes rigging the boat, not bad for a first time. I kept noticing nice things about the design. A retractable bowsprit for the spinnaker, that works! Yes, a 12 foot boat with main, jib and spinnaker! We were looking forward to some of the over 15 mph speeds this boat is capable of, and the forcast was for 15-20 with gusts up to 40 mph! Darn it, by the time we got to the lake at 5pm the wind had died. Chuck and I sailed out the cove a mile or so and back, it doesn't take much wind to move this boat, and we were able to fly the spinnaker.
Going slow showed some of the other advantages of this boat. The 4'8" beam with a chine made it extremely stable, I stood up the whole time. Since the boat is almost all cockpit, we had plenty of room for two people. The spinnaker sock is part of the boat and works well. Controls were well placed, and the outhaul, cunningham and boom vang really let us trim the main.
While the cockpit is self bailing, with Chuck and I both in the boat, about 375 pounds, we had a few gallons of water in the back of the cockpit. I'm sure it would have drained if we'd had a bit more wind. For a 12 foot boat that easily fits in the back of a pickup, it's perfect for taking more than one person for a sail.
David
