15 good reasons to have a trial sail and buy your first Hornet or come back to a class on the up!
Pound for pound against speed and enjoyment, second-hand Hornets are excellent value which is why they are sometimes scarce to buy, get yours as soon as you can.
Open Event use £30
National Event use £60
Included in this is a years Membership to the Hornet Association
- The Hornet was Jack Holt’s favourite design. This is from the man that designed the Enterprise, GP14, Cadet, Solo, Streaker, Heron, etc.
- The Hornet is shown by Portsmouth yardstick to be quicker than a Olympic 470
- The Hornet’s slim easily-driven hull is unique in performance sailing dinghies and allows the boat to be driven hard upwind with the ability to plane to windward.
- The Hornet outlasts many of its rivals by years and years – you don’t have to buy a new boat every two years to stay at the top, 20 year old boats can still be made competitive and can win championships.
- Symmetric trapeze boats are more challenging to sail than asymmetric, but don’t let that put off the mixed crews, don’t forget symmetrical boats are good in estuaries and where there is strong current as they have a better range of fast course direction than an asymmetric.
- The association owns the rights to the design…..commercial enterprise can’t suddenly decide to stop making them and devalue your boat in seconds or make a new batch that is faster than the earlier boats.
- Hornets can be adapted as sailing, materials and fittings progress.
- Talent shines through, one of Mike McNamara’s favourite boats many other top sailors have sailed Hornets including both Cat sailors Reg White (who won an Olympic Gold medal), then later Hugh Styles who took a Tornado to Australia for the Olympics there and also won the laser Europeans. Look in Yachts and Yachting and even Bob Fisher once sailed them.
- Wood, composite, FRP, epoxy no preference, they’re all quick
- Any deck layout you like, side tanks, crew-deck or not, you can choose
- Sailing a hard-chine boat requires a special skill if you don’t keep it flat, you’ll pay the price
- Gybing centreboard or fixed? You think you can handle it?
- Choice of builders FRP, wood or composite Follow this link for examples
- European trophies up for grabs as well as Nationals. A unique silver-plated tiger’s head trophy for the best junior team at the Nationals, all that if you’re good enough!
- Enough rocker to tack well and to sail in still waters as well as on open sea and because of the rocker, the Hornet doesn’t stick in light weather like some recent designs with enough room to put your legs in for larger crews and an ability to take a wide range of crew weight.
Best of all a friendly class where crews help each other, talk to each other and especially drink with each other come for a trial sail and find out how accommodating the Hornet fleet can be.