To 12 or not to 12?

[Matt Harris]

This may sound a little long winded but i'm after a bit of advise.  I am a member of Southport Sailing Club and we do handicap racing, i currently sail an RS400 but funnily enough we get mullered on handicap.  Boats that are currently winning are obviously those suitable for the lake (GP14s, Graduates, Enterprises and Lasers), Im after a boat around this sort of speed although something with a bit more flare too it.
The 12 came up when i narrowed it down to appropriate boats, although i have a few queries i'm hoping people can help with me.  Firstly myself and my crew currently weigh around 23-24 stone, is this likely to be an issue?  How does the 12 compete with other classes on handicap?  I noticed its around the same as a laser is this realistic to race off for newcomers to the fleet? 
Sorry for all the questions, many thanks
Matt

[andyp]

Hi, My grown up daughter and I sail a 12 (a feeling foolish) on a very restricted river with an all up crew weight pretty similar to yours and do pretty well (comfortably beating all of our Laser Fleet boat for boat. It's a much more exciting boat than any of the two sail boats around but tacks and accelerates very quickly. At the top end of the national 12 circuit you may be a little over weight but in handicap racing you should be very competitive

[MikeDay]

At that weight, you'll be at the top end of what works in a Twelve.  Main drawback is that you'll generally accelerate a little slower and in marginal planing, the boat won't pick up as fast.  However, there are plenty of people who've been reasonably competitive with that sort of weight. Read the design guide on this site for guidance on which shapes carry weight better.  An obvious place to start would be a Final Chapter.

Mike D
N3533