Steve Cockerill, guru of all things singlehanded, has now sold 83 rigs for his Rooster 8.1 class. This is the bigger rig which is aimed at the 90kg Laser sailor who is looking for a bit more horsepower than the Standard rig can provide.

While the Rooster 8.1 is certainly pitched at the heavier sailor, a number of people in the 70 to 80kg weight bracket have still bought one as a toy to go and play in. Funnily enough, according to Steve it's the heavier sailors who have found the rig more of a struggle. "The 11-and-a-half stoners haven't found it a challenge," says Steve, "because they've been hiking all their lives anyway. Whereas the 16-stoners, they're saying, ‘This is hard work!', and I say, ‘Join the club. Welcome to Laser sailing!'"

For the big boys, the Rooster 8.1 has made the Laser into the straight-leg torture bench that it was always intended to be. But it does seem fast. Currently the Rooster 8.1 is operating off a 1051 handicap number, under which it has been performing very well in the light to moderate breezes, although Steve thinks it will be a different story in 20 knots. "It performs well on lakes, in gusty conditions, and light to moderate winds, and I think people will enjoy it on handicap," says Steve. "But it will struggle to beat a Laser Standard rig in a breeze, just as a Laser Standard struggles to beat a Radial in breeze."

The class is beginning to attract some interest from overseas, with four Abu Dhabi-based Laser sailors ordering 8.1 kits. Rooster Sailing is also on the verge of shipping 50 kits out to the USA, where there are a good number of sailors who should match the 90kg profile quite comfortably. The problem with shipping kits overseas is that while sails are cheap to transport, the bottom section that matches up to the standard Laser top section is expensive and cumbersome to move around the world.

So Steve has commissioned the design and development of a glass-fibre extension piece that will enable 8.1 sailors to link the Standard rig top and bottom sections together, with the connector providing the extra mast height to match the 8.1 sail. Once he has perfected the extension piece, then shipping Rooster 8.1 kits around the world will be very straightforward and cost-effective. At which point the Rooster 8.1 has the potential to go global, and perhaps achieve ISAF International status as a class in its own right.

Whatever the global prospects, the Rooster 8.1 is certainly establishing a foothold in the UK, and Steve is hoping for about 50 sailors to contest the inaugural National Championships at Weston Sailing Club on the weekend of 12/13 October. Who knows, I might even have a go myself, if only to remind myself why I have confined my sailing to trapeze boats for the past 15 years!

Streaker strife

Another singlehander close to Steve's heart is the Streaker, which he rates as a lovely boat to sail, particularly for those who don't have the fitness or the inclination to enter the House of Pain (the Laser). "The Laser is a beast of a boat to sail, you have to keep yourself in tip-top condition to sail it sensibly," says Steve. "The Streaker is beautiful to sail even if you're not that fit. It's manageable in a Force 5, anyone can make sails for it, and the hull weight is 48 kilos. The closest comparison I could make is to the Europe."

So, a nice boat to sail, but quite difficult and fiddly to build. Like many boats in the mid-20th Century, the Streaker was designed by Jack Holt as a simple, home-build project in wood. The boat has lots of hard vertical edges which make it great for the amateur builder working in wood, but make it a pain to pop plastic boats out of a mould. The Fireball addressed this issue almost 15 years ago, allowing a bit of angle to be put into the side decks for example, so that a boat would pop cleanly out of the mould. It adds nothing to the speed of the boat, but enabled builders like Guy Winder to knock about a thousand pounds off the cost of construction.

The Streaker class is currently debating similar issues, about rounding off some of the corners, and removing the requirements for vertical surfaces which make mass-production so fiddly. Not surprisingly Steve Cockerill, who retails his version of the Streaker for £4495, has both feet in the progress camp. "At the moment it's not an easy boat to assemble. You could probably make two Solos in the time it takes to build a Streaker, so it's about simplifying the construction process."

The risk of a change is that the new breed of boats are faster, potentially making the older Streakers out of date overnight, but Steve argues that the proposed changes would have no intended on speed. "I would hope it doesn't go any slower, but it certainly won't be any faster. We won the Nationals the last three years, and we don't want the hull shape to change. It's about making it easier to build, and making it aesthetically more sexy." If the Phil Morrison reworking of the Wayfarer is anything to go by, it's impressive how a few cosmetic alterations can have a big effect on a boat's appeal. The new-look Wayfarer at the Dinghy Sailing Show a few months ago really was an eye-catcher, so perhaps a similar reworking of the Streaker would give it the right look for the 21st Century.

Free youth entry to the Fireball Nationals

The Fireball class is always coming up with good initiatives that many other amateur-run associations could take lessons from. As part of the ongoing drive to promote the Fireball dinghy to young sailors, the UK Fireball Association is offering free entry for all under 21s to the 2007 National Championships, to be held in Brightlingsea from 29 July to 3 August. This includes half price entry for boats with only one youth sailor and applies retrospectively to any youth sailors who have already entered the event.

This offer builds on the UKFA's current competition to find the top youth sailors of 2007, which is based on results from a series of Fireball Open meetings.  The prize for the winners is free boat shipping to Pattaya, Thailand to compete in the 2008 Fireball World Championships.

The Fireball claims to offer the perfect mix of performance and tight tactical racing.  It is an ideal boat for young sailors emerging from junior classes like the Cadet and 420.  The class offers regular training events with professional coaches and advice is always on hand from the top sailors in the fleet.

There are still some helms and crews of differing abilities (from Gold Fleet to Bronze Fleet) looking to find sailing partners for the 2007 National Championships, so get in touch if this appeals. Alternatively, why not pair up with a Fireball sailor at your club or see if you can borrow a boat? The UKFA has access to a small number of competitive boats available for this event. For more information see the UKFA website www.fireball-dinghy.org.uk or contact Elaine Tudor: 01206 820076 or wandet@lineone.net

Friendly footstraps

One of the most essential - but also one of the most hazardous - parts of high-performance skiffs are the foot straps. If you drive into the back of a wave at high speed then you want the foot strap to hold you there - most of the time. However, there are some occasions where the pitchpole is inevitable and at that point the last thing you want is to be pinned in position. These are the times when it's wiser to accept defeat and make a leap as far forward over the front of the boat as possible.

Occasionally people have really come a cropper because their foot loops failed to release them in a crisis. I remember at the windy Weymouth Sail for Gold regatta in 1999 when top-ranked French sailor Marc Audineau capsized his 49er to leeward, but felt backwards while his foot was still secured in the loop. The loop failed to give way, resulting in Marc's ankle getting turned over and snapped by his body weight. It makes me cringe thinking about it now.

Marc was sent to hospital, had his foot in plaster for months, and never really got up to speed in time to be race-fit for the French trials. He did the trials, but after being a dead-cert for Olympic selection for Sydney 2000 he lost out to another French team that had made progress while he was stuck at home watching daytime TV.

Marc's injury, and probably many others besides, might have been avoided if the Aquastrap had been available. This is a releasable foot strap which looks like it might have the answer to the problem. Jamie Stevenson, a keen skiff racer, was aware of the lack of a safer alternative to the traditional foot straps, having had an incident where he was lucky to escape being trapped by his foot strap. Jamie, who works for an engineering design company specialising in the design of high quality polymer products, put a proposal to the design team that they develop a releasable strap. They agreed, and after three years of designing and testing the Aquastrap has been launched.

The footstrap assembly itself is made from three different high-grade polymers specifically chosen for flexibility, durability, strength and comfort. The straps can be fixed to the gunnel or to a trapeze rack on almost any dinghy or catamaran using either screws or rivets. Full adjustment is provided for all sizes of foot, and also the straps are adjustable for release force to cater for lightweight or heavyweight sailors, and to allow the user to set a force that won't release too easily when the situation is recoverable - in the case of a saveable pitchpole for instance.

Retailing at £26.99 for a pair, this seems worth further investigation. Hopefully I will get the chance to test them later in the season, in which case I'll report back in Roll Tacks. Meanwhile, go to the product website at www.aquastrap.net