The folks at Red Dragon Yacht Building in Xiamen, China are making some waves. Recently named the new Asian builder of the J/80 which happens to be the keelboat for this year’s Asian Games in Korea, they also produce the D5.8 (cum Flying Scot). The’ve tweaked this nearly 60 yr old boat with new flat-topped fully battened main, furling jib, NACA rudder and centerboard foils, modern controls.
A few people weren’t happy when they cloned the FS 10 yrs ago, but they’ve never shipped a boat to the U.S. and the only builder refused their efforts to license the FS anyway.
Said Dragon’s David Winter, “The many changes to the boat done at considerable expense solely for the Asian market, gives the boat new life. It’s still a great entry-level boat for Asia, but performance enhancements make it more enjoyable: faster, points higher, no weather-helm, etc while maintaining simplicity.”
