VX One sets course for Australia and New Zealand

by Sail-World on 18 Apr 2012
The all new VX One ballasted dinghy by New Zealand sport boat designer, Brian Bennett, is headed for Australia in late April.

The VX One won both Sailing World Magazine's 2012 overall boat of the year award, and Sail's best boat award for 2012.

'The VX One is all about high performance sailing with ease, and ideally suited to mature dinghy sailors that desire a technical boat that is solidly built for 'breeze on' conditions, and big waves', says designer and builder Brian Bennett. 'Curiously, the VX is equally at home in a lighter air venues. With just enough ballast (80 Kgs.) the boat is remarkably forgiving, stable, completely self- bailing, yet well capable of boat-speeds over 22 Knots,' he adds.

Designed in 3D, and tooled with 5 Axis CNC, the VX One is truly 'engineered' in all departments. Even a weed cutter is featured in the Hard-cote anodized aluminium foil.

The VX is designed to ship in easy multiples of three boats per 20’ container, or as many as eight per 40’ high cube. Shipping to major regattas is as simple and easy as it gets, and the low slung/ low windage aluminum trailer and all up towing weight of around 400Kg. means that just about any four cylinder car can tow economically. Eiither Ramp or Hoist launching are very straight forward.

The VX One is strict one design, and all systems are simple, and easy to operate, right down to the single line Gennaker halyard pole control (49er style).

This new boat bridges many generations of one designs, and is derived from Bennett’s years of sailing many, from OK’s, Lasers, and Contenders, to Flying Fifteen, Etchells, Tornado’s and his previous stead, the Viper 640, which he designed back in 1996. The inspiration being to develop a tightly controlled one design that has the fine feel of a Star boat upwind, with the power, and acceleration of a skiff downwind.

Early indications show just this, with fleet performance very close up wind, and downwind, requiring real attention to pressure with the VX sailing above wind speed constantly. All this with finger- tip control.

For more information, check out http://www.facebook.com/pages/Bennett-Yachting-Inc/432183836856267!click_here, visit VX One Design on Facebook, or even better, come and sail the boat at one of two Aussie demo weekends:

RANSA, Rushcutters Bay, Sydney May 12th and 13th, RQYS, Brisbane, June 2nd and third.

The VX One can also can be viewed at Sanctuary Cove Boat Show, Booth MH17, May 24th – 27th.

With two boats on the way, and a lot of interest from Australia, and New Zealand, this may be the boat that hits the 'Sweet spot' in the big dinghy category. Price is expected to be in the low $30K AUS (ex GST) range, delivered, ready to sail, and featuring full Southern Spars Carbon rig package, and Harken hardware, and canvas.

Sales in the US are brisk, so there must be something to this exciting new One Design.



The VX One Features:

1. Completely up to date design in 3D with all tooling cut with 5 axis CNC equipment.
2. Designed to ship, tow, and store economically. Light and low Aluminum trailer Standard giving remarkable fuel mileage. Can be towed by even a small 4 cylinder compact car. Two boat trailer now available. 3 boats per 20’container. 6-8 boats per 40’ container.
3. Professionally run VXODCA (class association), with board of directors loaded with experience and talent.
4. Built to ISO standards of laminate strength and stiffness for a light weight and durable race boat.
5. Resin infused with Vinylester/Epoxy resin.
6. Carbon laminate in high load areas and rudder for stiffness and durability.
7. Strict one design sail plan with purchase limits for affordable program costs. Square top main for all round performance and power.
8. Best quality hardware and canvas by Harken. (Other hardware by Allen Bros.,Wichard, and Ronstan). The best hardware for each application.
9. Stunning Carbon spars by Southern Spars (NZ). All standing rigging in Dyform for low stretch – high performance and durability.
10. Hard-cote anodized keel with kelp cutter. The smallest one design in the world to have one!
11. Simple adjustments and tuning letting you focus on tactics and boat speed.
12. Optimized hiking Geometry with padded Zhik hiking straps for a new level of comfort.
13. Rope package from Marlow featuring the ideal cordage for each application.
14. Full service, parts, sales and repairs from our Savannah facility.
15. Nation wide team of professional agents. To help you with your VX ONE program.
16. A great value for the most current multi award winning one design on the market today. Get yours from $26,950.00 USD