Hi,there is a Mk1 Blaze 579 for sale at my local sailing club. I have recently done RYA L1 and L2 and have had some dinghy sailing experience albeit not for 25 years so I'd say I'm a beginner. I'm 57 and about 80kg. Do people think that this is worth looking at? Thanks.
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Yes, you are about the right weight. It's worth looking at but just have a think about the hazards you may meet. For instance, if your club is on a tidal estuary, with lots of moored boats down each side and maybe shipping coming along the main channel, then you need to be very careful. On the other hand, if your club is a lake or reservoir and only other boats are dinghies and safety boats then that is a very safe environment. Either way, don't get carried away by sailing in medium to strong winds. You are a beginner and the Blaze is a relatively fast boat so you do have to be in the right place in the boat with reactions that they sometimes call "muscle memory". In other words in a medium breeze and above you have to instinctively do the right thing - you won't get time to think about it, and it's no fun being capsised all the time. Fortunately, the Blaze is a pussycat once capsised. Now the next thing to consider is how well the boat is set up. Everything must work well and some old boats are full of old gear which doesn't work and carries an old sail which is much harder to handle in the gusts. I hope you have other Blazes in the club so that you can get some guidance and expertise because a poorly setup boat is a pig to handle and only an experienced person would be able to either sail it or sort it out so that a beginner can sail it.