Does the Zenith Fulfil its Promise?

The new offering from Hartley Boats

A new Saturday ritual has begun, or at least the renewal of an old one, long since abandoned. I took delivery of my new Hartley Boats built Zenith (sail No. 105) last Thursday. Delivered to ELYC’s dinghy park at North Berwick by a very competent sailor on his way to deliver another Zenith to the Royal Tay, so far that makes two in Scotland. Richard Hartley had insisted on a handover as part of the service. Easy enough to rig under supervison, but I must admit I began to have second thoughts when we pulled up the sail. Oh My God! Its massive. I’d bought the boat off-plan, never having seen one (excepting some You-Tube clips) let alone ever sailed one. I’d no worries about build quality. I’ve owned a Hartley-built boat before and was well impressed by their design and build quality.

Not a Zenith. Drone shot ELYC’s Fun Friday. (after tweaking my boat)

https://flic.kr/p/2rhrsRm

I started sailing in my early 50’s, club racing mostly in Lasers and Aeros, participating in a few Nationals, did the traveller series for a few years, and retain fond memories of the sparky Aero Northern Circuit. As a sailor, I’m nothing special, just a competent club sailor who may win the odd mixed handicap race when it all comes together and the stars are in alignment. Post Covid-19, I’d bought a beautiful, hardly used second-hand Mk 4 Wayfarer (also Hartley built) which was sadly wrecked in the big storm that tore through our dinghy park in October ’23. – that’s the storm that ripped out a large section of the medieval harbour wall. I’d been sailing a Hawk 20 all that summer, was enjoying the new buzz around the keelboat scene at ELYC, thinking, well that’s a closed chapter. Maybe I’m done with dinghies. Except….. at ELYC, the keelboats hibernate in dusty stone barns across East Lothian, so that’s six months without a sail. I began to hanker after a dinghy in the dog days of last winter. (ELYC has an active dinghy scene all year round, with some great winter sailing conditions). So, my first thought was time to buy a Streaker, the last refuge of dinghy sailors at ELYC before retiring to keelboats. Bang in an order for a Boat Show deal, job done?

As it happens, the Streaker is now a Hartley build, so perusing their website, I came across their new, intriguing Zenith project. Richard Hartley’s charismatic story telling sold it to me off-plan. Promising exhilaration on the water (seems that Hartley Boats are channelling Graeme Chapman of Louts fame – add lightness). The ~40 kg weighted centreboard to make it difficult to capsize and a low transom to make it easy to climb back in should that unlikely event occur. The ideal dinghy for the older gentleman. Now, just over week into ownership, I’ve been out five times in Z105. The maiden voyage off the beach in benign a 10 knots and flat sea for a practice around the cans. The second time out in 20 knots with a lumpy sea, seriously over-powered upwind, discovering fairly quickly that the boat is so light that you need to keep momentum going through the tacks in waves. And yes, in those conditions its exhilarating and VERY stable off-wind, overtaking the crests whilst surfing down waves. I’ll have plenty more of that this coming winter, thank you very much. I’d had a problem with the boom / gooseneck, which my running repair didn’t fix. A quick email to Hartley and next day a new boom appeared, with an upgrade – that’s impressive service. The only niggle? When opened, the two shiny bailers gurgle like a drunken Glaswegian on a Saturday night and quickly dry the cockpit. Unfortunately, on shore, those bailers sit on top of the well-padded cradle of the aluminium trolley, means that the cockpit tends to collect rain. That apart, both the design and build quality is typical of Hartley Boats – excellent. These guys make great boats. The centreboard comes with a little pin to hold it in place, but its so well balanced that I’ve found it superfluous. The rudder was initially too stiff, but a little bit of butter sorted that out, the uphall and downhall now work smoothly.

So, my first race this Saturday, in light winds (10 knots) from the east with flattish water. My Atlas race computer clocked up to 7.7 knots SOG on the reaches in gusts up to 14 knots (AWS). I think I finished towards the front of the fleet in both races. I’d forgotten how much fun it is. God, but its great to back in a dinghy.

So how does the Zenith live up to the promise? Was I wise to trust Richard Hartley, or was I the idiot victim of marketing hype? Judging against Richard’s initial design brief.

Richard’s 12 Design Objectives My Comments

1. It must be easy and simple to rig and de-rig. The controls are beautifully set out and simple (outhall, downhall and kicker) ideal for a former Aero/Laser sailor.

2 . The whole boat must be light (90kgs approx.) and that includes a 37kg ballasted centreboard also with an aluminium trolley. I thought I’d need a road trailer to help recover it off the beach with the club tractor. Actually no, while I do need some help to pull it up the steep ramp, its easy on the flat – the lightweight trailer is beautifully balanced. The road trailer will soom be parked in the dusty barn.

3. The boat must look good. Has aesthetics worthy of design awards.

4.It must not be boring to sail, quicker than a flying 15, Supernova and Wayfarer (PY1050). Its very fast on the beat and even faster off the wind. Not sure yet about the 1050 PY. Slower than a Phantom, faster than an Aero 7, so not too far out.

5.It must be nearly impossible to capsize, must self-right. I’m not planning to test this just yet.

6.Have the most comfortable side-deck available to sit on. Yes, that box is ticked.

7.Have plenty of legroom to be very comfortable when sailing. Yes, that box is ticked.

8.When sailing downwind, never have to kneel on the floor, sit on the shaped side-tank or the front seating provided. The small centreboard casing is very comfy. Hiking is a breeze - really secure when locked into the toe straps. No need to kneel on those downwind legs!

9.No limbo-dancing, enough boom height to be comfortable when tacking. Pretty good. I can now disdain the club Phantom sailors are they squeeze under their booms.

10.No thwart to get in the way, easy to tack the boat. I’m still learning the dance steps, but so far, so good, I’m liking the snap of the sail as you pump it up through the tack.

11.Must have a modern carbon rig, accompanied with a laminate square top mainsail to make sure the boat can be easily depowered and is easy for me to set so I get the best results from my sailing, tacking and gybing are a breeze with the boat being ideal for sailing weights from 70kg to 110kg. I’m still working on best strategy to depower the rig. A tuning guide is promised. Get on with it Richard.

12.The ballasted centreboard to keep you safe. Seems very stable in F5 (20knots and very lumpy sea) even with no rescue cover.