What each manoeuvre costs
The track drops in speed at every hoist and every drop. How far it drops and how long it takes to come back is the measure of how the crew is working — and it improves week by week, visibly.
420
Two people, and the time goes on the manoeuvres
With a spinnaker and a trapeze, a race is decided as much by the manoeuvres as by speed. Every hoist, every drop and every gybe costs seconds — and now they can be counted.
The class
The step up from the Optimist: 4.20 metres, two people and, for the first time, somebody else aboard to work with. Trapeze and spinnaker, which is where half a season goes while you learn them.
- Length
- 4.20 m
- Crew
- Two, on trapeze
- Rig
- Main, jib and spinnaker
- Age
- Youth: the step up from the Optimist
What the replay shows
Side by side with the winner
Two boats, leg by leg. In a youth class, seeing exactly where twenty seconds went beats any amount of explaining on the beach.
Training counts too
The fee is per season, not per race: the devices go to training, which is where the learning happens, and get reviewed just like a race.
Fitting it
Strapped aboard, clear of the kite and the sheets. No installation and no power needed.
We have not tracked a 420 race yet. The device is the same and does not depend on the boat, so it works just as well; what changes is what is worth looking at afterwards. If your club sails the class, we will set the first one up with you.
Your club’s next race
Devices are handed out before launching and collected on the way back in: nothing changes about how you run the race. If you would rather see it before deciding, write to us and we will set it up on one of your own races.
Other classes