With potentially more time on our hands in recent weeks, there has never been a better time to cast our minds back to May 2019. The sailing media was bubbling with news on the selection trials for the 2024 Men’s and Women’s One Person Dinghy Event.
The Evaluation Report (all 36 pages of it) included considerations regarding performance, athletic suitability, appeal, quality of production, standardization of the equipment, cost, distribution capacity, universality considerations and other areas affecting the suitability to the 2024 Men’s and Women’s One Person Dinghy event.
You only need to make it to page four to really get a feel for the panel’s thoughts surrounding the RS Aero;
“The equipment is deemed suitable for Olympic competition. The boat was described as fun, fast and appealing with simple and well executed concepts which were appreciated by the MNA sailors. The light hull (30kg) requires sensitive boat handling and was considered by the sailors as having the potential to reward higher sailing skills. The design is simple and well thought out for shipping, saving space when stacking hulls for transport. Its light weight and its size make it attractive and suitable for the youth pathway. The hull is engineered with modern materials and production methods. All fiber is CNC cut, the quantity of material is optimized and proven to be effective and there are strict controls on the building processes monitoring the production to a high level of standardization. Mass production is already established with a high-end quality product. Quality was recognized by the MNA sailors and considered among the highest in terms of value for money. The builder is in a satisfactory position to produce and deliver boats in a reasonable timescale. The boat pricing information is credible, proposing an open book pricing, where the price is driven by a formula to be monitored by World Sailing accounting for all factors.”
2024 Equipment Selection – Men’s and Women’s One Person Dinghy Report
A year on the RS Aero Class is thriving, with a bulging event calendar and truly international regattas. We’ve delivered more boats than ever, to more countries and more sailing communities. It was an emotional experience but it is one that’s made the RS team and the RS Aero Class stronger.
Check out the full report by World Sailing here.
