Recommend me a single handed dinghy please

I've got a pal who rides a Phantom, he's an ex windsurfer like me, but not quite so devoted to hiking so tends to 'perch' but he just doesn't seem to go over that much. He's now in his late seventys, what we sail on aint easy, lots of lumps and shore dumps. I'd tell anyonewith a bit of height and weight to get one, they're light and easy to move around, they have a swinging back centreboard and rudder, not to difficult control layout, rock steady, fast, so you get to be among the better sailors in most handicap fleets, so you can emulate their style and decisions.
You aint going to beat them once the spreadhseet has been calculated, but over the water, it'lll be a better experience. Better than bringing up the rear of the laserati wallers who are mostly quite adept, because the boat is so crap they have nothing better to do than work hard. Better to be ghosting past them with a smile and a coffee in the cupholder and a rolled up copy of Sailing Today to read down the run as you glide by them, they love it.


Edited by iGRF - 02 Oct 21 at 9:01pm

Depends how much area you've got, Blaze does like room to stretch it's legs so estuaries are good and it's fast enough to stem the tide better than slower boats. Performance is not much different to a Phantom on open water but, as you say, not so well suited to confined waters. If blasting around in a breeze is on the agenda though I'd take the Blaze every time...