1 December 2003

As a reader of Smoothsailing, I have obviously seen the debate about 420s vs other things, and have read about the launch of the new Active 15 dinghy. As one of the co-developers of the Rebel dinghy, high performance dinghies in the approximately 4.5m size range are things I feel strongly about.

Despite the fact that work on the Rebel started over two years ago and we have already built three prototype hulls and about 7 production hulls, we have deliberately kept a low profile. The rationale was that we wanted to ensure that we had a tested product with known costs and the bugs in the systems ironed out before we began creating expectations.

The objective of the Rebel project was to create a high performance, low cost dinghy which would grow the market for sailing in RSA. The point about growing the market is important - although we hope to attract good sailors to the class, our primary goal is to get people who might not have sailed before onto boats. This had several implications for the project:

· Costs needed to be actively controlled
· The boat needed to be very simple, and could not look intimidating to the novice
· So far as possible, it had to be comfortable to sail. Experienced sailors may be accustomed to bashing themselves when they go sailing, but new recruits might question the need for getting hurt. My experience is that people get cut and bruised on boats because layouts are poorly designed - we specifically tried to address this
· We needed to make systems as hassle free as possible - for example, our rig design has eliminated the possibility of twisted halyards inside the mast
· It needed to be possible for people to assemble boats themselves and even build some of the components. While we believe that constructing hulls, sails and masts are outside the abilities of most people, bolting on the fittings, making booms and spinnaker poles and shaping the foils (if the profile is kept simple) are definitely feasible
· The boats had to be available - ideally, someone should be able to walk into a shop and walk out with a boat

These implications guided the direction of the project.

A key issue in containing costs was that we already had the moulds of the Regatta dinghy (designed by Chris Hecker several years ago). Our opinion of the Regatta based on some initial trials was that it was quick but probably needed more development and the hulls were soft. Being able to use the mould cut huge costs from the project start-up (which would need to be amortised later to keep the project at least cash neutral) but the boat that has been developed has an up-to-date rig and an internal structure (in the hull) to take rig loads. The build process (using resin infusion and vacuum bagging) also ensures that the boats are light (70kg hull) and, more importantly, and that weights will be consistent across the fleet. To make it possible for owners of existing Regattas to join our class (there were about 17 boats built), we have kept the same basic rig dimensions (eg mainsail luff and foot, hounds, etc). While we anticipate Regatta hulls being quite a lot slower, it does give the option of buying an old boat, keeping the rig and fittings and updating the hull and sails (and getting on the water very cost effectively).

We have also been able to keep costs in check by keeping the rig relatively low tech - for instance, all the spars are aluminium. This is possible by keeping the spinnaker pole fairly short (which has the other benefit of keeping the centre of effort of the sailplan fairly consistent so that lee helm is contained on a reach).

Simplicity seemed absolutely key. I have a fair amount of experience with very complicated boats (my Sprog of several years ago was a prime example and the Fireball I sail does seem to have more systems than we really adjust) and the primary learnings from these were:

· Lots of rope is intimating and looks "difficult"
· Blocks and rope are expensive and will drive the cost up
· Extra systems obviously add to overall weight

Our philosophy was to go for very good equipment (Ronstan ball bearing blocks and cleats for most systems, BG fittings for fairleads and trapeze shock cord take-up system), to specify the right stuff (for instance, the spinnaker ratchet blocks are load sensitive), but to eliminate everything unnecessary. The result is that there are just four deck mounted cleats - two for the jib sheet, one for the spinnaker halyard and one for the asymmetric pole launcher. Cleats for the vang, cunningham and outhaul are all on the spars. A further benefit of this is that many systems can be left in place when the boat is derigged, reducing the time to get on the water. For the user the boat's systems are exceptionally simple, but a huge amount of time went into making them that way.

Paying attention to ergonomics was time consuming but, ultimately, very fulfilling. Basically, we have been able to get pretty much everything away from where backsides, knees or shins are likely to be. It is quite amazing to sail a boat this comfortable and, to the best of my knowledge, no one involved in the testing has left any blood lying around on the boat or been bruised. The two things that could get in the way of toes are the mainsheet block and the self bailer but they are both in virtually the same spot and should be able to be avoided. Also, we recommend wearing sailing boots if you are going to spend any length of time under a toestrap or on the trapeze.

Making the boat comfortable also resulted in the mainsheet running from the bridal on the transom, inside the boom, to the central ratchet block. This makes it impossible to catch anyone on the head, either with the sheet or a guide saddle on the bottom of the boom, and also keeps the boat looking extremely clean and uncomplicated.

Our philosophy with eliminating things that could go wrong involved identifying everything that had been annoying about sailing other boats, and trying to design them out of the Rebel. This impacted on several of the systems:

· Most dinghies with three halyards (main, jib and spinnaker) will get twists in them at some point. Our solution was:
o Run the jib halyard, which also sets rig tension, inside the mast
o Run the main halyard inside the mainsail track on the back of the mast - the other result of this is that the top of the mast can be sealed - handy in a capsize situation
o Keep the spinnaker halyard (which holds the mast up on the hard when the jib has been taken down) external. Although this does add to windage, it is not an issue because all the boats are the same. Furthermore, no one can ever make the mistake of having the halyard disappear inside the mast
· Our experience with other boats with asymmetrical spinnakers and bowsprits is that it can be difficult to set the system if the pole launcher, tack and halyard are all on one line. Our solution was to keep the pole launcher separate and then launch the tack and the halyard with one string. The technique is to set the pole before the weather mark and then hoist the spinnaker/set the tackline as soon as you are round. For the drop, pull the spinnaker down to windward and then pull the pole back later
· We deliberately did not go for a spinnaker chute. My experience with chutes is that they put a lot of wear on the spinnaker, are not as fast on the hoists and it is highly debatable whether they are any quicker on the drop. Moreover, they tend to be a very good water scoop when sailing decked boats (like Fireballs, Flying Fifteens and Rebels) offshore. This, and the fact that we would have had to make substantial changes to the mould (for what I believe is an inferior system) made the chute a non starter
· A key experience with other asymmetric boats was the difficulty in seeing ahead downwind. The natural tendency of boat designers (who are likely to be speed junkies themselves) is to make the rig as big as possible, and the result of this is often spinnakers with very low clews. Considering that our primary target market was new sailors, we kept the spinnaker clew quite high to maintain visibility

Being able to assemble a boat at home can provide both cost savings (you might already have many of the fittings) and can make getting on the water more of a family project. We anticipate that some buyers will order just a hull, mast and sails (and maybe the foils) and then do the rest themselves. The foils have a fairly adventurous silhouette but that can easily be copied by just using existing blades as a template. The section is a parabolic leading edge, a tapered trailing edge and flat sections in between, specifically kept simple to make it possible to build them at home. Both the boom and the spinnaker pole are simple round sections and should be easy to build if you have a hacksaw, a drill and a few files. While complete boats are available from the builder, we would certainly like to see people doing there own thing (within the class rules).

Availability, we think, is one of the key reasons why the Rebel should be a success. Our perception of other classes in RSA is that they have not had regular builders, no-one knows exactly how much a new boat will cost, and it is impossible to get one quickly. It can even be difficult to find out who to contact for a new boat because they are generally not advertised. Ocean Sailing Academy is a key ingredient of the project because they have a nationwide presence, international links, and an existing marketing campaign. We are likely to supplement their network by appointing agents in places where they have less infrastructure but the principle is that you should be able to go into a dealer and take delivery of a boat immediately, or within one to two weeks (depending on the demand at the time).

The pictures on the website show pretty much what the Rebel is. A fairly conventional hull, a semi-fully battened mainsail, a small jib and a large asymmetrical spinnaker flown from a bowsprit. It has a lifting rudder, a daggerboard, a single trapeze (with the spinnaker version) and very simple systems. There will be three versions of the boat available - the all out version with the trapeze and spinnaker, one with just a main and jib (no trapeze or kite), and one with just a mainsail, to be targeted at the tourism market. We have deliberately steered clear of having too many options because they will add to costs and, we believe, will dilute any fleet that starts to grow. Recent experience while working on a management consulting project in Australia suggests to me that we have taken the right route with the Rebel. While one can spend a lot of time debating the importance of South Africans sailing international boats, the experience of Australia seems to indicate that it is less important than one might think. Basically, the Australians sail a whole bunch of boats that are not raced anywhere else and the sport there is in remarkably good health. On any one weekend, there are probably more boats sailing in Sydney Harbour alone than in the whole of RSA. The issue in RSA is that there are simply not enough people sailing and we need to take a first step to change that. Expensive, imported, highly technical boats are unlikely to be the answer - we need something locally produced which is preferably not too susceptible to exchange rate fluctuations - local content or at least limiting the number of counties where components come from is good. Hopefully we will get to a stage where we have large fleets of something - I think that our main problem when we travel to overseas regattas is not whether or not we can steer or trim fast but rather how well we cope with getting off the start line and finding clear breeze in fleets bigger than what we are accustomed to.

I am sure that a relatively conventional boat that is easy to sail and doesn't fall over too often is what is needed in RSA. Sailing very high performance boats, like 12 foot skiffs, is simply too hard. Boats like the 29er are also quite hard to keep upright but have a good global presence (including in RSA) - any new entrant into the market needs to offer a compelling reason why someone should not rather buy one of the established international boats. In the case of the Rebel, the Unique Selling Proposition is simplicity and cost. People who do get to sail it will also be rather surprised at its pace - it is stiff, has a modern rig and will be very competitive against the established classes. While we believe it is easy to sail, we also think it is hard to sail fast - in this way, it provides a challenge to good sailors.

Although the project started over two years ago, most of the development has really happened since July 2002. In that time we have:

· Completed three prototype hulls (and comprehensively broken the first). As part of this process Global Composites have built several other hulls and decks to experiment with different resins, cloths and core materials
· Built two sets of foil plugs and several rudders and centerboards
· Designed and built a new composite rudder stock
· Altered the mainsail and redesigned (and built new) the jib and spinnaker (thank-you to Quantum Sails)
· Stopped working with the first builder and developed a good relationship with a second (Global Composites in Pietermaritzburg)
· Global Composites have also developed a launching dolly and trailer system
· Worked with Yacht Masts and Rigging in Durban to supply the rigs
· Settled on a fitting manufacturer and supplier (Ronstan and Texwise respectively)
· The initial owners of the project - Dudley Isaac, then Mike Dann and Roy Dunster, have been joined by Ocean Sailing Academy
· The boat has been sailed in Durban, Gauteng and now (or soon to be) Cape Town.

Andrew Heathcote has also sailed the boat and has been a big help in working out how to get it going fast and in developing the sail plan. Unfortunately, he has not yet been able to sail it with the new jib and spinnaker (hence the lack of a test so far) because the new rig has been based in Cape Town for the past month or so.

I would be happy to answer any questions about the Rebel and can be contacted at rdunster@bigfoot.com. Unfortunately, I will still be in Australia when this story runs - my cell phone there is +61-402 936 181 (and we are nine hours ahead of RSA). I should be back in RSA during the first or second week of December.

My thanks to the people that have been involved in making the boat possible:

Quantum Sails, especially Jan, David and Warren. Quantum sponsored the first suit of sails
The whole team at Global Composites
Yacht Masts and Rigging, especially Chris James
Texwise - Alex, Keith and Tim
CAM Section masts - Ken Bennetts and Rob de Vlieg
North Sails and Rick Nankin
Andrew Heathcote, who has given a lot of input about sails and how to sail the boat fast
Tammy Woodroffe
Rick Parker (Durban), who has always been keen to assist in testing the boat (and has had to help swim the boat back to the PYC on a couple of occasions as a result)
Sparcraft and Pete Shaw
Dudley Isaac
Mike Dann
The team at Seaport Supply
Agenda Yacht Services and Subray
Ocean Sailing Academy and Robbie Dove and Erwin Bouland
Sailing Magazine and Richard Crockett