sailboat with musical note on it

[shaggie]

I saw two of these boats on a lake. They had the symbol for a fast musical note on the sail. Does anyone know the make and model? They were about 10 feet long and had about a ten foot sail. The beam was narrow and they were fast sport boats. They looked really fun to sail. Thanks.

[SkiprJohn]

Aloha Shaggie,
I know the Force Five has what appears to be a musical note but is the symbol for Beufort scale force five. A vertical line with two long horizontal lines at the top and one shorter line below as well as a dot at the base. The boat is 14 feet with one sail and very sporty and fast.
Could it be?
Regards,
JohnL

[shaggie]

That's probably it. It did have those lines that you mentioned. That's about the right length too. Thanks. I can look up some pics of it on the web.

If anyone here has one, I'd like to hear opinions about it.

[shaggie]

Here's a pic of the Force Five. Looks like what I saw. Neat boat.



Summary of the Force 5:

http://www.bosunsupplies.com/Force5B.cfm

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[SkiprJohn]

Aloha Shaggie,
They are great sailing boats and are just a bit faster than a Laser and a step up from a Sunfish. They will plane in 15k winds. All are about equal in length but the Force 5 has a bit better quality of construction in my point of view.
If you are going to sail a Sunfish, Laser or Force 5 I recommend the book "Start Sailing Right!" because it will teach you what you need to know so that you are upright more than you are capsized.
Kind Regards,
JohnL

[shaggie]

Thanks for the info. I was sailing an inflatable when I saw these other two guys on the Force 5. The were blasting right by me. I felt like an old timer in a model T.

I'd like to try one of the boats you mentioned eventually. They look like fun and I'm still young.

[shaggie]

The Force 5 used a Harken Hexaratchet to control the sail and apparently the Laser does too. Anyone here use the Hexaratchet? How does one actually turn it on and off?

[SkiprJohn]

Aloha Shaggie,
I've rigged a hexaratchet on my Scorpion (same as Sunfish) and they have a knob or slider switch on the side of the block that lets you turn off the ratchet if you want to use it as quiet block. Good for racing because if you are very close to your competitor they will not hear that you are adjusting your mainsail. Sneaky, eh?
Regards, JohnL