Looking at buying an S2, but would like some more info.

[monkey_feet]

I am looking for a solid boat that is trailerable. I had a buddy recomend the S2 7.9.

Does anyone have some detailed pictures of the cockpit? Or a "floor plan"?

How is the boat to cruise. I live in Arlington, TX and would be racing my MC Scow and will use the S2 with the kids.

Are there any S2's in the Dallas / Fort Worth area?

Thanks.

[Tom Elsen]

The 6.9 might be more of what you're looking for. The 7.9 is a lot to handle with the kids. You need a couple of pretty hefty crew to get things set up, on / off the trailer. We normally rig with four people. This is a 4600 lb 26 footer, not exactly a little weekender.

[Jim Kloss]

My goodness, that's the most negative I've ever heard (read) our class association pres be about a 7.9.

I've sailed both 6.9 & 7.9 and if you're going to be sailing off the trailer, setting the mast every time, the 6.9 is a better boat for you. But if you'll be in one place most of the time, you and your kids will appreciate the stability and room of a 7.9. It's a GREAT cruising boat for two adults and 2-4 kids. Our son started sailing ours when he was 12 -- now he's Tom's bowman and shopping for his own boat.

Jim Kloss
s/v Ambivalence
S2 7.9 #8

[Jim Kloss]

Have you looked at this website? It should have the info you want.

www.angelfire.com/mi/loosecruise/S2/


Jim Kloss
s/v Ambivalence
S2 7.9 #8

[monkey_feet]

The boat will primarly be dry stored at my yacht club. I was attracted to the swing keel of the 7.9. I have 20 years racing MC Scows among other boats, so I don't think handling the boat would be much of a problem.

Does anyone know of any in the Dallas area? That is where I live.

Thanks for the impute.

Jack
www.arlingtonyachtclub.org

[monkey_feet]

Jim - Thanks for the web site. The boat looks like it might be just what I'm looking for.

JH

[Bob Pr.]

Thanks very much for the promotion of our S2 6.9.

I owned and sailed a 6.9 for 4 years and then sold it and bought a 6.7, the less well-known slightly older sister of the 6.9. Both have lifting keels.

The 6.9's cabin and cockpit were redesigned by Graham & Schlagater to look like a 7/8ths scale 7.9 and it was named the "6.9" to further that resemblance.

Their redesign of the 6.7 was mounted on the same 22' balsa cored hull & rudder that the 6.7 used. (The S2 22, a shoal draft wing keel boat uses the same hull form but is not balsa cored.)

The 6.9 sails fine but since the boat is 500 lbs. heavier and has 95 lbs. less lead in its lifting keel than the 6.7, it also needs more meat on the rail and early reefing in any wind. The 6.7 sails and feels more like a keel boat.

You can read my owner's reviews of each boat in Sailnet's "BoatCheck":

http://www.sailnet.com/collections/buyi ... m?tfr=popf

Those go into encyclopedic detail.

Also, you can see comparative specs of the 3 boats in our class at:

http://www.sail-s2.org/html/s2_comparisons.htm

Our 22' boats do trailer well (if on a good trailer with surge brakes). I wish more of our owners had good trailers and took advantage of that benefit.

Bob Procter, Pres.
The S2 6.7, 6.9 & 22 Class Association
http://www.sail-s2.org

[jdallstrungout]

Good morning S2 7.9 members,
Allow me to introduce myself. My name is Joel Doyle and I live in Rochester, NY on the Lake Ontario shore. I have been an avid sailor for 25 years. I daysail and cruise my home waters on my highly modified 23 ft trailer sailer. I have crewed at the Youngstown Level Regatta and the LYRA regattas held locally as well as nearby club races. I have been reseaching the purchase of a boat that would be suitably competative for racing and would also be a lively daysailer and weekend cruiser. The S2 7.9 seems to be a winner for this intent. I would appreciate any and all feedback related to making an intelligent purchase. I have reviewed most of the S2 7.9 racing rules and would like to address the area of owner modifcations.
Question-Do the rules allow for "illegal" modifications than can be restored to class regulation at races? Such as, moving the traveler to a bridge deck position for personal use then returning it to midcockpit for racing.
As an engineer I often design and fabricate items that facilitate single-handed sailing so little "improvements" are an evolutionary process for me.

I would want to race my 7.9 but I don't want to stray too far from the class rule with my relentless puttering.

Thanx in advance

[Norwalk-ROTC]

There is also this - http://www.geocities.com/dopierce/79.htm

[jdallstrungout]

Thanks for the link Norwalk

[Tom Elsen]

Although we've never considered the exact issue you pose, we have faced other 'illegal modifications' in the past. Generally, if the modification can be restored to the unimproved state, no one objects. For example, if a spinnaker pole bale has been mounted to a track on the mast, we fix it in place and do not allow it to be moved while racing.

Generally these projects aren't kind to the resale value though.

Just me, I'd be mighty careful with a doghouse mounted traveler. That is no hanky-size main up there. The side forces at that point on the boom are...well...considerable. And the last thing you want to do is to be dodging a free flying chunk of steel track after a nasty jibe.

[jdallstrungout]

Thanks for the followup Tom. Although resale is make least concern right now it's good information regardless. No, I don't think I would ever move the traveller to the dog house. I never really liked that configuration for any purposes. It's too difficult to adjust quickly and doesn't really give you the proper effect. I was considering only the forward end of the cockpit at the companionway bridgedeck as a possible "cruising" traveller position. It would keep the cockpit pretty clear of obstructions for the less than agile aboard. But that's all I really needed to know for now. You have addressed my current concerns.
Thanx
Joel

[hwpratt]

I was considering only the forward end of the cockpit at the companionway bridgedeck

I haven't sailed on a boat on which boat that it works well ... the traveller is awkward to use when racing (esp. if you want to pull it to windward of centerline), and when cruising the main sheet is in the way of the companionway. I personally prefer mid-cockpit travellers and, in 2nd place, a transom-mounted traveller.

[Bob Kirsten]

Gang,

I admit that getting the mast up on our 7.9 is tougher than our old lightning, but we have rigged the trailer so that just my wife and I can raise and lower it at the ramp. We rig the spinaker pole at the mast base, as you will see documented on this website, but then added an electric trailer winch up high on the bow post of the trailer, above the manual winch. I had a base welded up to mount the winch on, and plug down into the verticla bow post, then pin it for easy mount or dismount. We then run the winch cable up to the spinaker pole end, just as you would if you were rigging block and tackle at the stem back to the cockpit. We always keep about a 5 1/2 ft support (made of 2" PVC with a roller on the top) to hold up the aft end of the mast, affixed inside the cockpit so that I can still steer the boat with the mast down. We just walk the base of the mast back to insert the pin in the step, use the halyards to support the spinaker pole, and use side to side line supports to keep the pole in place, and hook up the winch. I stay on-board to walk the mast up, and my wife hits the switch to either raise or lower the cable, and up she goes. Two notes though: 1. The electric winch is power up and down, not free wheeling in the down setting. 2. We really need to watch the position of the shroud turnbuckle attachments, so they don't get kinked on the way up. I have actually made up some bungy cords to hold them up as we raise the mast. I learned the hard way the if they kink, it will bend the chainplate attachment (which is probably not a good thing).

Sorry for such a long winded dissertation, but this has made the 7.9 very manageable for just the two of us to trail her, and to launch at some really remote sites.

Good luck,

Bob Kirsten
DD Mau on the Great Lakes