RS K6

2001 June 12
By Robert H. Perry

One Design

If you were never comfortable in the water or your idea of a good sail doesn't include the individual medley, you might prefer a dinghy with the added stability of a ballasted keel. You could argue that the addition of a ballasted keel takes the K6 out of the dinghy category, and I would probably agree-dinghies don't have ballast; dinghies don't sink. Still, the K6 is an interesting hybrid. I think it falls into the category of a small sport boat: not quite a regulation keelboat, but certainly not a dinghy. The K6 is designed for a crew weight limit of 440 pounds. That means you can sail with two heavyweights or a crew of three averaging 147 pounds each.

The hull is very sexy looking. The LOA is 19 feet and the all-up weight is 572 pounds. Beam is only 6 feet, 6 inches. As a point of reference, the venerable Lightning, Olin Stephens' daysailer/one-design, first built in 1938, has almost the exact same length and beam, but weighs about 130 pounds more, despite the fact that it's a centerboarder. It gives you an idea of how far we've come in terms of materials. The K6 has 210 square feet of working sail compared to the Lightning's 177 square feet, a function of the K6's ballast-cum-lower-center-of-gravity. It would be interesting to sail the two boats side by side.

The bow of the K6 is fine, with a hint of hollow right at the cutwater. The stern sections are gently arced with no sign of a knuckle at the waterline. The lifting keel shows a curved leading edge and a straight trailing edge. The bulb fairs to the fin at the nose and comprises nearly 50 percent of the displacement. You can raise and lower the keel while you are sailing.

It seems that all these high performance boats use the same promotional jargon: "high stability, low drag" is universal in these types. I'm also surprised the K6 doesn't have a name starting with "V." How about the "Vampire" or in keeping with the times, the "Vegetarian?"

The brochure promises "low sheet loads" for the K6. I know from my own designing experiences that in small boats you reach a point where you don't really need winches for the sheets, but it would sure be nice to have them. With the addition of winches, however, you increase not only the ergonomic challenges, but also the weight and the cost.

The K6 has a powerful rig with a 310-square-foot asymmetrical chute (compared to a 300-square-foot spinnaker on the Lightning). And it's not just the sail area that you are dealing with here, since the K6 has the stability to carry sail in heavier conditions, which will further increase sheet loads. The asymmetrical chute is launched through a tube in the bow. The mast is carbon fiber. The jib is self-tacking with a furling drum located below the deck.

I really like the idea of a fast and nimble boat that won't capsize. The K6 seems to fit the bill perfectly. I would have to sail the boat first to see if it felt like too much of a handful in terms of controlling the sails.