X Marks The Spot For Bargain-priced Quality
The Sunday Age
Sunday June 2, 2002
I AM still recovering from driving 37 Australian-made boats in sunshine and showers, calm seas and calamitous conditions, over four days in Sydney and on the Gold Coast. The assignment handed to me and a team of fellow judges was to determine the Australian Boat of the Year.
There are a number of categories in the awards. Everything from a pint-sized sailing dinghy to a veritable gin palace with ice-makers, flat-screen televisions and air-conditioning. There was even a three-storey houseboat fronting up for judging.
I'll discuss the winners in a future column, but I will say this much - a lack of imagination, poor ergonomics, slap-dash finishes and just plain bad design was evident in as many as half of the entrants.
But judging was a breeze because the past year has also given rise to some outstanding new boats. A couple of local manufacturers who took the bull by the horns will be awarded for their creativity. That much is sure.
One of the bargain-priced boats was arguably the most brilliant.
The little X3 sailing dinghy from Sail Extreme in Melbourne is innovative, well made and way cool.
Appealing to the young, and young at heart, it is the antipathy of a daggy Manly Junior or Mirror.
Developed by Jim Close, who has contested numerous around-the-world races including sailing four legs in this year's Volvo Ocean Race, the X3 was made to seed the sailing industry.
His partner, Dave Allen, is also a professional sailor keen to get more kids in boat.
Though it is just 3.2 metres long and 1.5 metres wide, the X3 isn't at all tender.
The hull, fitted with quality Ronstan deck gear and a stiffened alloy mast, is open-ended so you don't need to bail in the event of a capsize.
At 55kg, the X3 is light enough for kids to launch and adults to lift onto the roof racks.
The rotomoulded triple-skinned polyethylene foam-cored hull, which can be made from recyclable materials, is tough but not slow.
The skiff-like hull has a fine entry and wide, flat aft sections to encourage it to plane and to provide stability.
Even landlubbers can master the very few ropes.
There are two rigs, each available with asymmetrical spinnakers or gennakers.
The so-called ``education package" flies 8.5 square metres of sail, the ``fun" version carries 14 square metres and will plane with an adult and one child in 15 knots of wind.
A tug on a single line sets the spinnaker from a bow sprit.
Pull the other end of the line and it retracts back into an onboard sock.
No forestay and a single continuous sheet for trimming means little that can go wrong during gybes.
The pivoting hydrofoil-shaped centreboard has been designed for fast downwind sailing.
You can sail right into the beach and the centreboard will retract.
It is held in place with a big rubber o-ring.
A class association has been formed for the X3 and there is terrific support for it in Melbourne.
Standing start races are held, each 30 or 40 minutes long, with a final sprint up the sand to a flagged finish line.
This way the family can be part of the action.
What's more, the dinghy has a little watertight storage compartment for your wallet, so you can sail down the beach, pull into the shore, and run up to the milkbar for a Paddle Pop or cold drink.
Though it has been five years since I have sailed a dinghy, I got the hang of the X3 in light airs.
I didn't even come close to toppling over.
The only thing I found lacking was time. I was having fun sailing the X3.
What's more, the price is refreshing.
The X3 starts at $2780 with the single-sail ``educational" rig and ranges up to $4780 for the "fun pack" with spinnaker and bigger mainsail.
These days, a Laser costs $7500 on trailer and a daggy Sabot will set you back around $5000.
Details: Sail extreme, (03) 9399-9009 or www.sailextreme.com
© 2002 The Sunday Age
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