RS100 announced 2011 Boat of the Year by Sailing World
by Martin Wadhams, RS Sailing 20 Dec 2010 11:23 GMT
The RS100 wins Overall Boat of the Year award in the USA © RS Sailing
RS Sailing are proud to be the winners of another major international award with the RS100 announced the overall winner of Sailing World’s 25th annual Boat of the Year accolade in the USA.
“Other builders have tried to design the ultimate singlehanded dinghy with an asymmetric spinnaker” said Sailing World editor and Boat of the Year director Dave Reed. “But over two years of prototype development, the engineers at RS Sailing refined every little detail of this boat, and it shows. It’s an impressively technical 14-footer designed by and for avid performance sailors.
“I was wowed when I saw the boat for the first time,” said Boat of the Year judge and naval architect Greg Stewart. “And when I sailed it, the boat had a very positive feel. The whole package is very well executed, has great builder support, and because of this has excellent prospects for growth as a one-design class.”
Stewart’s sentiments were echoed by Chuck Allen, a professional sailmaker and Boat of the Year judge, who said, “The RS100 was the best boat we sailed this year — by a lot.”
Other category winners in Sailing World’s 2011 Boat of the Year competition include the Beneteau First 30 (Best crossover) – J/111 (Best One-design keelboat) – Gunboat 66 (Best grand prix) – a pretty hot crop!
“This award marks the perfect end to a remarkable launch year for the RS100” said RS Sailing MD, Martin Wadhams. “It is a fitting reward for all the team involved with the design and development, for our dealers who have introduced the boat across the world and for the incredible number of sailors who voted with their wallets and bought RS100s straight out of the box.”
RS100s are already racing across Europe, in Australia, the USA and in the Middle East. The programme for the Class ramps up in 2011.
More information on the Boat of the Year winners is available at www.sailingworld.com and information on the RS100 can be found at www.RSsailing.com