Yachts & Yachting - July 2018

R

S Sailing is a company that

has always had increasing

participation in sailing at

its heart. hat started more

than 25 years ago with the

popularisation of asymmetric dinghy

classes. More recently, the company has

also addressed the market for clubs,

sailing schools and other organisations

with a requirement for leet use. his

includes the RS Quest, which sold more

than 1,000 units in its irst two years of

production,andthemorerecentRSZest.

Whereas new designs are typically

optimisedforprivateindividuals,the

RS21 keelboat was developed primarily

for clubs and other organisations wanting

tobuyaleetofboats.“Anumberofour

overseas customers inspired this boat,”

explains Martin Wadhams, chairman

of RS Sailing. “hey feel – as we do

now – that sailing needs to change and

that more people will want to access

aboatinaleet,insteadofonethey

own themselves. hose organisations

also told us they didn’t believe a

suitable boat existed on the market.”

CONCEPT 10/10



Key requirements were simplicity to

minimise gear failure through misuse, to

maximise durability and for forgiving,

yet exciting, sailing for a broad spectrum

of people from newcomers to top-level

match racers. Other criteria included

spaceforuptofourpeople,butwith

the possibility to sail with fewer.

Twoversionsoftheboathave

beendeveloped–aonedesign aimed

primarily at racing use, and a club spec

boat with a smaller kite and Dacron sails,

POCKET

ROCKET

RUPERT HOLMES puts the

innovative small keelboat from

successful dinghy manufacturer

RS Sailing through its paces

including a reef in the mainsail. here’s

also a symmetrical spinnaker option for

venues where that’s more appropriate

and for match racing. he two versions

are identical in other respects, so a

sailor who doesn’t want to own a boat

could buy a suit of race sails and then

hire a club version for championships.

he design is by Cowes-based Jo

Richards and Guy Whitehouse, a pair

responsible for a string of successful

boats for RS and others, including the

LaserVagoandBug,plustheRSAero,

Quest and Cat 16. “he boat needed

to look modern and racy, while being

easy to look ater,” says Whitehouse,

“and we spent a lot of time developing

diferent iterations of the concept.

“Wedrewahullshapethatwillbe

good in both light and heavy winds,

with more rocker than a downwind

lyer, while avoiding maximising light

airs performance through excess sail

area.” Nevertheless, the RS21 will plane

in as little as 12 knots of true wind.

heshapeoftheforwardsectionsof

thehullisverycontemporary–indeed

RS21 BOAT TEST

1

SPECIFICATIONS

Length 6.34m Gennaker Race 40sq m

Beam 2.20m Gennaker Club 35sq m

Draught 1.38m Price £24,980 inc VAT

Displacement 650kg Regatta version £27,980

Mainsail 16.2sq m Electric saildrive £1,950

Jib 8.4sq m

68 Yachts & Yachting July 2018 yachtsandyachting.co.uk