From Sailing Anarchy - February 22nd, 2006

Our friends at Sailing Anarchy posted our review of the Chicago boat show as well as our position on the Rocket versus Melges 24 debate. We've already had a few emails on this subject and would love to hear your thoughts.

Rocket Boats is back from a very successful trip to the Chicago boat show. The interest in the Rocket 22 continues to grow and each trip is better than the last. It was great to speak to so many Rocket enthusiasts and it seemed like every second person learned about the Rocket from Sailing Anarchy. And speaking of SA, a big thanks to Mr. Clean who checked out the Rocket summing up his review with, and I quote here, “Of everything new at the show, I think the Rocket was the most impressive”. Thanks!

Chicago area sailors are very knowledgeable and passionate about their sport and it was a pleasure speaking to them all. We also met quite a few hard core Rocket fans who had come a considerable distance to see the boat. In particular, a couple of great guys from Kentucky who Amtracked overnight to get to the show. It shouldn’t be too long before we’ll have couple of Rockets in the Bluegrass state!

As a result of the boat show we’ve left a Rocket in Chicago for demo sails later this spring. The boat is at Larsen Marine in Waukegan, just north of Chicago, and we already have quite a few demo sails lined up. If you want to be included please let us know. We’ll probably schedule the demos for some time after Charleston Race Week where we will be racing two Rockets.

One thing that came up a few times in Chicago, and has been following us around since we began this project, is the comparison to the Melges 24. Most people seem to get it, but still, there is some confusion or misunderstanding around our response. The truth is that we think the Melges is a great boat. If we were younger, had more money and wanted to race hard in an aggressive OD fleet with more and more semi pro crews then we would buy a Melges. But this isn’t us and this isn’t where the Rocket is being sold.

Our typical buyers are guys 35 and over with a racing background who want a boat that will satisfy their need for speed but with the characteristics of a bigger more stable platform. The Melges 24 is a high performance boat for grown up dinghy sailors, the Rocket 22 is a scaled down 40 footer for mature racing sailors who are looking to get back into some fast, enjoyable and uncomplicated racing. No 25 year old rock star athleticism needed here! The Melges 24 and the Rocket 22 are two great, but different boats, that serve different sailors.

We’ve never seen the Melges 24 as competition for the Rocket and we’ve never pretended the Rocket is a Melges wannabe. We like the Melges guys and believe both our boats can happily co-exist serving their respective markets. In fact, some of our best friends and customers are experienced Melges sailors who campaigned hard for a number of years, including Key West and other grand prix events. They will be the first to say they had a blast doing it, but now want something easier on their bodies that they can sail competitively on Wednesday nights, weekend regattas and in OD races with their families or like-minded crews.

Before we launched this venture we spent a lot of time talking to sailors to get a better handle on our market and who was going to be interested in a Rocket. We saw a hole for the boomer market that still wanted the thrill of high performance sailing but on a boat that wouldn’t leave them bruised and which they could sail easily. The Rocket is designed and built for this market and judging by the response so far we are on to something.

Mr. Clean Goes to Chicago - An Anarchist's View of the Rocket

Mr. Clean, a diehard Sailing Anarchist, hard core sailor and his better half, Meredith, dropped by for a visit in Chicago. They spent a lot of time going over the boat, asking questions and didn't leave until Meredith squeezed herself into the cockpit cooler. This is their report. Thanks guys and look forward to catching up on the circuit.

Both Meredith and I loved the Rocket 22, and the biggest part of that may have simply been Anthony Dutton and his excellent crew showing off the boat. While the Melges 24 is the definitive sportboat in the US and Europe, there’s no denying that it’s a bit long in the tooth and appeals to a very specific audience. The Rocket takes a lot of what’s great about the Melges and makes it much more comfortable and intuitive, catering less to the hardcore alpha-male crowd and more toward those who have mellowed with age or never were that psychotic to begin with. I really believe that Dutton doesn’t care all that much how the Rocket compares to the Melges, and I like that confidence. He has obviously thought the compromises out well. The ability to put the conventional kite on when conditions are right gives the boat more versatility and caters more to the tinkering sailor than the Melges can. The utter simplicity of M-24s means that your heads stay out of the boat, and this is one of the reasons that M-24 sailors get so good at fleet races. The Rocket is much more adjustable and much more tweakable, with not a whole lot less speed. The ability to play with lines and optimize sail shape with easy adjustments is important to a large portion of the sailing world, and is important for distance and reachy races. I never sailed the Rocket’s predecessor, the Pocket Rocket, but I think this boat will scorch PHRF fleets until the rating catches up. Some of my M-24 friends will give me crap for it, but I think a well-sailed Rocket can beat an M-24 boat for boat in the right conditions. All the sail controls on a big boat are on the Rocket, and the cabin was a surprise: it’s actually usable and downright luxurious compared to the Melges. I think mast jacks and backstayless rigs will always make me a little nervous though. Of everything new at the show, I think the Rocket was the most impressive.

Alan's favourite pics

Hi. Look Ma no backstay!!! This is our new mast from Forte with spanking new North 3DL rags. The asso was designed by North. We gave them the measurements and the only instructions were "gybing angles between M24 and J80". We sailed the new rig and sails for 5 days with the last day blowing up to 25-28kts (photo day). We were amazed with the range the asso had. From super deep to almost close hauled. We added a foot (5 to 6ft) to the sprit extension. The combination of the larger sail and the extra foot on the sprit neutralized the helm so even at 15-16kts there was zero helm.
Alan

Chicago Boat Show Review

The emails and calls coming in after Chicago have been great. Thanks to everyone who dropped by the show and contacted us afterwards. We will be returning to Chicago for a few days of demo sails sometime later this spring. Probably after Charleston Race Week where we will be racing two Rockets. If you would like to come out for a sail please send us an email or call and we'll let you know the exact dates soon. We can also take people out sailing in Charleston if this more convenient.

Also, for a good review of the Rocket, and a few other boats in the Chicago Show, check out Destination One Design. Thanks to Wally Cross for this.

Rocket 22 - SoCal Champagne Series

Gray Marshall, on his Marina del Rey based Rocket, has been moving up recently with some good finishes locally. The most recent regetta was the Champagne series, http://www.sbyrc.org/html/events.html, where his Rocket 22, Diavola, placed 2nd overall in PHRF B with 10 points (1-3-3-1-2). His rating is 102, which is the most aggressive rating for a Rocket in the country. In the PNW we are rated 108. Gray's competition for the series was a Capri 30 (108), Laser 28 (132), Morgan 36 (129), Jenneau SF3 (111) and a SAN 30 (123). Gray is now preparing for the Mid Winters which begin in a couple of weeks.

Photo Credit: Pat Reynolds

News Flash - Al Barnes on TV, Full Story at 11

What a crazy day. None of us had time to stop. Nobody ate. Al and Rocket Boats were interviewed for European TV. A couple of magazines came by for interviews and photos and a non stop stream of people were around the boat from start to finish. Almost too many folks were coming by so that we couldn't really spend as much time with them as we would have liked. But before anyone asks, there were no contracts signed today, although we did get some very firm commitments from a couple of guys for later in the year. And then there were the folks who kept coming back with more questions or to take photos or to show someone else the boat. We're learning from some of the other companies here that unless you are a Beneteau or Catalina, for example, most people follow up later. This has been our experience at other shows like Annapolis where we sold a couple of boats but didn't sign any contracts until a few weeks after the show. And also a lot of people want to go for a test sail first, which is not unreasonable. We will be coming to Charleston Race Week in April and then will be around for a couple of weeks after that for demo sails. If anyone wants to work a sail in then please let us know as soon as possible so that we can coordinate schedules.

Chicago Friday February 3

The first proper day - Friday - here has been great. Thursday starts are often pretty dead with only the exhibitors walking the floor. But in our case that is usually good as we have a lot of support from across the industry. The Quantum, North, Harken and Samson guys all came by with quite a few others as well. Today the show really opened up and tomorrow should be even better. Sunday will be interesting with the Super Bowl. How many sailors are also football fans? We'll have to wait and see. We are situtated directly across from the bar which works well for us. We like beer and we don't have to go far to get it! And apparently lots of other people like beer too as we find ourselves talking to sailors with bags in one hand and a beer in the other. The flow of lookers was very consistent today with several interested buyers coming back quite a few times. Always a good sign when you are selling something. We're all hoping they'll be back again tomorrow.