|
I just bought an 2011 TI. I can't really comment on its sailing characteristics because I haven't had the TI out sailing yet, but a lot of people enjoy this boat in warm water, and the hull is very tough for beaching. My criticisms are about durability and convenience on dry land.
The TI is very heavy, just a function of making everything out of polyethylene. Even the leeboard is much heavier than I would expect. The wheels help but you need to lift the boat up to get them inserted in the receiver holes. It is a poor design for wheels. Even putting the mast in and out is unwieldy. I figure the Laser mast is a model of a freestanding mast and laser masts are much easier to work with.
The play in the folding aka (crossbeam) joint is very concerning. It is in all the parts that move relative to each other. As far as I can tell that joint is just going to get loose with time, just not designed for years of use. This is a critical part and its failure can be serious if you are sailing in cold water. Something with that much play shouts to me to be prepared for a catastrophic faillure. To me, this is questionable engineering. But yes it is very convenient to be able to fold the aka.
I am not aware of any other commercial sailboats designed to also have a human-driven propulsion, though there are lots of custom built boats that fit that niche. If you want both, this seems to be the boat that is available, unless you want to spend a lot of time building from plans. The Everglades Challenge is full of custom boats.
|
Login
Register
FAQ
