SAILABILITY INTERNATIONAL
NEWS, VIEWS AND REPORTS ON SAILING FOR DISABLED PEOPLE
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2.4m
CLICK HERE TO GIVE YOUR OPINION OF THIS BOAT
BOAT PICS
click to enlarge

typical cockpit

you can get very wet

good in all conditions 1

good in all conditions 1

good in all conditions 2

good in all conditions 3

Fred Rubinstein says 2.4's can be fun in the rough
and no it is not sinking

EDITORIAL REVIEW

Updated Jan 05 - Report by Mike Wood, spinal injury at C6/7, paralysed from chest down with partial use of hands, good triceps and biceps and some lats - Updated Nov 04. Based on sailing 2.4's over a period of 10 years at Club level and just for fun.


QUOTE FROM WEBSITE.......The 2.4 Metre originated from Stockholm in 1983 by local yacht designers who used the "R Metre" rule to create a single-handed keelboat the 2.4mR. It is a thoroughbred racer that has the complexity of a sophisticated keelboat, without the high costs, and the fingertip feeling of a dinghy. As a sister to the bigger 6m, 8m and 12m yachts, she possesses the typical powerful Metre boat sailing style.

Since the helmsperson sits down in the boat facing forward with all the trim controls within arms reach, the sailing is not physically demanding and racing is done in one open class with men, women, young and old, able and disabled sailors racing together. Because the crew weight is always close to its centre of gravity, the 2.4mR is insensitive to differences in size of the helmsperson. Instead, 2.4mR racing focuses on sophisticated sail trim, tactics and strategy.


Class Association - www.sailingsource.com/24metre

Other sources of info
members.ozemail.com.au/~mcleans/paralympics.htm

www.24mr.com/


My judgement is that this is a very good boat to learn the finer points of sailing, it will forgive mistakes but reward your experiments..

7/10 - As a boat for all types of disabilities - it has been fitted with a number mods to allow various disabilities to sail, the single seat is its best and worst asset.

9/10 - As a boat for experienced disabled sailors - the amount of controls and endless tuning available make this one of the best - a spinnaker is needed to make it a 10 for me.

7/10 - As a training boat - as a basic trainer it is too complicated and a single seat - as a serious sailors training boat it is superb.

8/10 - Ease of rigging - not difficult but needs a bit of knowledge to set up properly.

8/10 - Ease of transport and launching - needs fairly deep water to launch and recover but not really difficult.

10/10 - Controls - very comprehensive, everything you want and more, but you only have to use the ones you want.

8/10 - Quality of fittings and build - the later models are good quality with good fittings.

8/10 - Getting in and out - the deep and narrow cockpit hinder things a little.

9/10 - Sailing qualities - the only thing more you could ask is a spinnaker.

6/10 - As a club boat - its single seat and controls that need maintenance detract from its appeal but clubs that have them report good usage.

SCORES 80/100 ON THE BOAT CHART

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MY OPPINION.......

I do not particularly like the 2.4 probably because I am not a really serious sailor and the 2.4 is a very serious sailing boat.

It was not designed as a boat for disabled people so it is not good for all types of disability, but it is an important boat because it allows many disabled people to compete on a equal basis with able-bodied people.

Getting in and out is a little tricky because of the deep narrow cockpit and the standard seat does give a great deal of support, but this can be easily remedied with foam or cushions.

Once in, the controls look daunting until you realise that you only use the ones you understand or want. When you are seated comfortably all the controls fall to hand and are easy to use.

It sails very well indeed and is responsive to the slightest adjustment. It is not particularly stable and moves about quite quickly in winds above 8 to 10 kts. You have to watch you head on the boom and you are likely to get wet.

To sum up, its a very good boat, if you have a little experience its very interesting, if you are a good sailor its very rewarding.







OK but (click for more)
   **

A good boat... (click for more)
   ****


OWNERS MODIFICATIONS
PICS
EXPLANATION
The winch sits on a stainless steel platform that hooks onto the cockpit coaming. The 12v battery is on the cockpit floor between the sailor's calves. There is a watertight box containing relays and fuses that is held by bungee cord to a mounting on the right hand side of the cockpit (white object just visible in picture, in front of helmsman's face). On the tiller is a small push/pull lever working a micro-switch. The wiring is connected with waterproof quick-connectors allowing everything to be removed with no tools. All parts are easily obtainable in the UK.

Weight of all this equipment is approx. 16kg including the battery. The manually operated mainsheet is left in place, so that if anything should go wrong with the winch the boat can immediately be sailed conventionally, with nothing having to be dismantled.

Unlike some systems, the boom can be let out until it is at right angles to the boat and the winch is powerful enough to cope with very strong winds. It takes approximately 10 seconds for the boom to go from being at a right angle to the boat to being parallel with the boat.

Regards,
John.

kilmaine@insticks.demon.co.uk

CLASS OR DESIGNER/BUILDER ACCEPTANCE


PICS
EXPLANATION

WAITING UPDATE
CLASS OR DESIGNER/BUILDER ACCEPTANCE