Well david did ask for some ideas on this and it looks like a bit of fun so lets get personal about our own best loved pets.Many of the 'lost' classes have a whiff of the hound about them (which is probably why they are lost classes!) but if you want a real dog then look at the development classes. Shaft - the infamous Merlin springs to mind, as does the 'one off' 14 that I commissioned (at huge expense) that in the end got named 'Hound'..... and not for the parish in which it was built either!
Anyone else got any other candidates..... shall I start the ball rolling?
laser II?
The popularity of the Pug quite clearly shows that performance is not the most important element and many of us I suspect are proud and loving owners of the most canine boats imaginable. Film lovers will also remember Frank the talking pug in "Men in Black 2"
For Laser Tourist its clearly the Whizz that gets him going although judging from the tone of his assessment suspect he may not be a Whizz fancier/owner. I do however suspect him of owning possibly more than one 420!! (The French of course are renowned as a dog loving nation!)
Lets hear it for the Firefly....
By todays standards rather slow. No trapeze, narrow beam and decks nicely positiond to render thighs completely dead after a long upwind hike. Unfeasably low boom guaranteed to scalp the old lady with the kicker. Excessive rocker and (originally) rounded rudder profile with marked tendency to cavitate at speed. Same problem likely to precipitate vicious death roll. Tiny gib and no spinaker means scary windward heeling required on knarly downwind legs and inadequate lift from the deep bow section submarines if any but the tiniest crew moves forward to set a whisker pole. The original windowless sail plan makes for visibility rather less than the rear view mirror of the new lambourgini. Tiny self bailers and an incredibly thirsty bilge invites the entire ocean onboard for dinner AND breakfast. Low volume of airbag bouyancy make a capsize the end of the race as theres too deep a rocker on the keel to allow trnsom flaps to work and not enough flotation to let two crew bail out. Unbalanced rig with excessive weather helm.
I could go on, but...In its day it was state of the art rocket science.
What a great little boat. Loads of character and so versatile.
So thats my Cadbury's cream egg, to quote the TV ad; how do you all eat yours?