RS Zest Sailboat Review, the Trainer Dinghy for Clubs and Families

The RS Zest is a trainer dinghy, and that is the point

Most boats on this site have engines, cabins and price tags in the hundreds of thousands. The RS Zest is none of those things. It is an 11-foot 9-inch open sailing dinghy that weighs 161 pounds, built from rotomolded plastic by RS Sailing of Romsey, Hampshire, for sailing schools, yacht club junior programs and families who want a first sailboat. We cover it because it is one of the most searched small sailboats in the US, and because it is genuinely good at its job.

We file it under performance sailboats for lack of a dinghy category, but be clear about what that means here: the Zest is a forgiving trainer that happens to be lively, not a racing machine. Nobody buys a Zest for speed records. They buy it to teach a 10-year-old to tack, to give an adult beginner confidence, or to have a boat at the lake that two people can rig in minutes and sail all afternoon.

Jo Richards' brief, room for two and sailable by one

RS credits the design to Jo Richards and its own team. The central idea is a cockpit that comfortably holds two sailors, or three small ones, while the boat remains easy to single-hand. RS calls it a mini double-hander that can be sailed solo, and argues that many boats in this class are sailed by two but really suited to one.

Seating comes in three stages so a beginner can progress. A bright yellow sculpted thwart gives a nervous crew a secure inboard seat, intermediate side seats come next, and the contoured side decks with padded hiking straps are there for when the sailor is ready to get weight outboard. The boom is set high to reduce bumped heads, and moulded-in grab points on the hull make it easier to climb back in after a capsize.

RS Sailing launched the Zest in 2017, and SAIL magazine named it a winner in its 2018 Best Boats contest, singling out the ergonomics, the easily handled rig and the high-visibility sail that makes a drifting beginner easy to spot.

Rotomolded PE3 construction and why programs like it

The hull is built with RS's Comptec PE3 process, a three-layer rotomolding system with a tough outer skin, a foam middle layer for stiffness and buoyancy, and a strong inner skin. RS adds thickness in high-load areas and molds brass inserts into the hull for fittings, so hardware is not simply screwed into plastic.

For a sailing program, that means a boat that shrugs off dock rash, beaching and the occasional collision with a coach boat, and needs almost no maintenance. An aluminum rail on the bottom doubles as a skid when the boat is dragged up a beach and as a handhold for righting it after a capsize. Built-in tow points let an instructor tow six boats at once.

Rig and foils, roller-furling main and a kick-up rudder

The Zest sails as a una-rig with a 6 square meter (64.6 square foot) Dacron main, or as a sloop with the optional 1.1 square meter jib. The main roller-furls around the mast, so it can be reefed from the boat or from an instructor's RIB when the breeze builds. The mast is a two-part aluminum section with a foam-filled top, and a masthead float is offered as an option.

Two details stand out for beginners. The hinging mast step and a clunk-click mast gate lock let young sailors raise the mast without dropping it, and the lock stays secure in a capsize. A pivoting centerboard replaces the usual daggerboard, so hitting the bottom in shallow water lifts the board instead of breaking it, and the lift-and-lock rudder kicks up on grounding.

• Length 3.59 m (11 feet 8 inches per RS; SAIL lists 11 feet 9 inches)
• Beam 1.47 m (4 feet 8 inches per RS; SAIL lists 4 feet 10 inches)
• Hull weight 73 kg (161 lb); maximum crew weight 225 kg (496 lb)
• Main 6 square meters, optional jib 1.1 square meters

On the water, SAIL's blustery test off Annapolis

SAIL's reviewer took a Zest out from the Severn Sailing Association, across from the US Naval Academy, on a blustery day on Chesapeake Bay, and admitted he was worried about tacking and gybing in the chop. He found the foils offered the right mix of control and forgiveness, that maneuvers were easy, and that the space between boom and cockpit sole made it simple to move from side to side.

His conclusion was that he forgot he was sailing a trainer. SAIL calculated a sail area to displacement ratio of 25 and a displacement to length ratio of 79, figures that include 150 pounds of crew and both sails, and that explain why the boat feels sprightly rather than sluggish.

How sailing programs and families use the Zest

RS quotes three British training organizations on the Zest. The Sea Cadets use boats two-up for beginner sessions and like the thwart as a confidence-building seat; UKSA uses the same boat for adult tuition one day and children's taster sessions the next, sometimes three-up; and the Hengistbury Head Outdoor Education Centre says the centerboard lets it sail through more of the tide in shallow water.

West Coast Sailing, which sells the boat in the US, says the Zest has become a staple of yacht club learn-to-sail programs and community sailing centers since its launch. For a family, the appeal is simplicity: the boat fits on a small trailer or cart, the sail furls away and there is no varnish to maintain.

Zest, Tera, Feva or Quest, choosing inside the RS range

RS sells several boats to the same buyers, so choose by crew and ambition. The 2.87-meter RS Tera is a smaller single-handed trainer and an international class. The 3.64-meter RS Feva is a youth double-hander with a gennaker and its own international class. The RS Quest is what the company calls its most popular teaching and family boat. The Zest sits in the middle: roomier than a Tera, simpler than a Feva and, in our view, the easiest of the group for a mixed-age family to share.

Buying, pricing and keeping one for a decade

New, expect around $7,000 at a US dealer before options; SAIL's 2018 sailaway figure of $4,274 shows how much prices have moved. Used boats from club fleets turn up regularly, usually with some cosmetic scuffing that does not matter on polyethylene. Running costs are minimal: storage, a cover, occasional replacement of lines, the sail every few seasons and dinghy insurance or club fees.

When buying used, look at the rudder stock and lift-and-lock mechanism, the centerboard pivot, the mast step and gate lock, and the furling main for UV damage. Check that the hull has no soft spots or deep gouges that expose the foam core.