Lady Uno Race X owner from Waikauri Bay, with an extra standard main:
Initial email enquire 2008:
Very interested in your boats as we have been looking for a versatile boat that one person and/or two people can sail for fun. We are women, average weights 55 - 65 kg, who are experienced sailors from long ago.........!.
After purchase:
My sister grew up sailing like me in P class and starlings so we had some fun together. I took my 17yr old daughter and her friend out together one day (3 up) and we all had fun and it wasn't too crowded.
I have been having such fun in my boat!! We have had a wide variety of wind
and sun days. I have headed out on my own and an equal amount of time with crew. I sat down very comfortably in the cockpit and got them to do the moving!! I told them it was great having slaves.... Every time we went 2 up we used the racing sail and jib but I haven't tried the spinnaker yet and I'm looking forward to it. Spinnakers are outside my level of experience so I thought I'd just build my confidence with what I know (and the crew's confidence in me!!) first. THEN THE VIDEO!!!! (See Uno main page)
I loved being put on my own too and found the smaller sail plenty big enough for me to handle.
Lots of interest in the boat from folk in
the bay. Thanks for your help and for delivering the boat.
I've had so much fun in my Topaz over this summer (2009/10). We got the gennaker up and flew!
Topaz Uno Race X owner & son
Amazing sail, incredible speed, talk about fast! and we didn't even have the gennaker up!
Segment of an email from a prospective client;
I’m a relatively inexperienced sailor myself but until I get a boat that won’t change. The Topaz system seems ideal as a boat that’ll grow with us.
My children are 10 and 8 yrs and about 55-60kg together. The children have only sailed an Opti. I was hoping we’d be able to sail 1 adult/1 child or 2 children together.
Email from the same client after a demo of the Uno:
I was impressed by the forgiving nature and sail ability of the Uno. As we discussed, I'm keen and I'd like to go ahead and buy one from you.
Email from new Race X (with race & standard main sail) Owner/Club member in Gisborne to a fellow sailor, cc’d to me:
My new "Uno" arrived on top of Hugh's surf on Saturday avo and immediately my nephew Corey (my 11 year old number "1" crewman), his mum and even granddad were very excited to see such a fantastic innovative wee rocket machine and we are all looking forward to trying it out on the water soon!
I'm looking forward to introducing my new Uno to the local yacht club guys and girls (probably a few shocked looks or resentment on the faces of the old hard core diehard clubbies) but hopefully the excitement and potential of the Topaz will appeal to a few of the other more adventurous members who are looking for an upgrade boat for their whole family.
The idea is to spark interest and get a few more members interested in investing in the future of "FUN SAILING " and hopefully start to revitalize sailing locally as our sailing scene in Gisborne has been rather stagnated/boring the last ten years or so!!
Up Date: My Topaz is going great and we are thoroughly enjoying learning to sail all over again (Catamaran owner) but at least the “fun factor is at the max”!!
There has been a lot of interest during the season in my Topper Topaz in Gisborne, Wairoa and some Napier sailors have had a good look too when I sailed at the Wairoa River and Mahia Regattas (I came 2nd at Mahia)!
Topaz Race Plus owner from the Northshore:
Since owning the Uno Race Plus my other sailing dinghy has become somewhat redundant as the Uno is far more fun to sail, plus being much faster to rig I have now found myself sailing a lot more. The old dinghy is now surplus to requirements and will be going on the secondhand market soon.