BoatsRS Venture

RS Venture

Fractional Sloop · Centerboard Dinghy · First built 2010

A 4.98-metre fractional sloop with a high sail-area-to-displacement ratio, designed for agile, modern dinghy sailing

Designed by Phil Morrison & RS Sailing.

LOA
Beam
Draft (max)
Displacement
Ballast
Hull type
Centerboard Dinghy

See her sail

The RS Venture, on the water

The fleet's own footage — the truest look at how she really moves.

Footage from SEILmagasinet

Is it for you?

Character

Where this design lands on the numbers a shopper trusts — read straight from her own ratios.

TrailerableBeam 2.03 m — inside the 2.55 m no-permit tow width across most of Europe, and the 2.59 m US and Canadian limit. About 255 kg of hull, so roughly 850 kg on a trailer: check that against your own towing rating.Ramp-launchableAbout 255 kg of hull, with a keel that raises or a draught shallow enough to float off a trailer — she can go back on the trailer at the ramp, not only into the water.Shoal draughtDraws 1.15 m, board up where she has one — creeks, sandbars and thin anchorages most keels have to stay out of.
CoastalBluewater

At 3.23 she sits above the 2.0 line — beamy for her weight, and happiest coastal.

Capsize screening 3.23
EasygoingPowered-up

37.4 — a lot of sail for her weight; powered-up and eager, a real performer.

Sail area / displacement 37.4
TenderStiff

25% of her weight is ballast — on the tender side; she'll heel readily and want a reef sooner.

Ballast 25%

Powered-up and quick to accelerate — this one likes to sail.

  • Heavier than ~87% of boats her size on file
  • Beamier than ~89% of boats her size on file

Compared with 323 boats of the same type within a quarter of her length.

What the fleet has seen

The RS Venture, as the fleet has seen it

Derived from the videos the fleet has analysed of this model. ▶ marks open the moment aboard.

The RS VENTURE is a 5.0 m fractional sloop centerboard dinghy designed by Phil Morrison and RS Sailing, built by RS Sailing since 2010. It displaces 254 kg and has a 1.1 m draft. The boat features a pivoting GRP centerboard, which can be ballasted with 143 lbs, and an aluminum mast and boom with a single-line reefing system. Mainsail options include Dacron or Mylar, and both asymmetric and conventional symmetric spinnakers are available. A keel version of the RS VENTURE is also produced. Aboard SEILmagasinet, 19-year-old world champion Elliot Finnestrand sails an RS VENTURE, a two-person dinghy, in competitive para-sailing, where one sailor helms and the other manages sail trim and the gennaker.4:25 Finnestrand's team won a world championship in the class, performing well in 10 m/s winds.13:12

The living fleet

Sailed by the fleet

Where the fleet has filmed this boat.

Seen once across one channel of the fleet.

Basemap © Wikimedia Commons · CC BY-SA 4.0

The record

Full specifications

The complete reference set — tap any figure to switch between metric and imperial.

Dimensions
Weights
Ballast / displacement
25.4%
Rig & sail area
Rig
Fractional Sloop
Ratios
SA / displacement
37.4
Capsize screening
3.23
Hull
Hull type
Centerboard Dinghy
Construction
Fiberglass
Production
Years built
First built 2010
Designer
Phil Morrison, RS Sailing
Builder
RS Sailing

Boats like this, on the water

More boats like her, on the water

Comparable boats the fleet has on camera: same type, within a quarter of her length. Open the boat, or watch the video — a timestamp means she only appears in passing.

O'Day Daysailer5.11 mSame hull familyNear-identical lengthA 1956 centreboard dinghy with a high sail-area-to-displacement ratio that remains in production today
Boat Shop Windows4:54from kentblairl
Mutineer 154.57 mSame hull family0.4 m shorterA prolific 15-foot centerboard dinghy with a 43.54 SA/D ratio that has remained in production since 1972
Sailing Dighies NOT to Buy - How to Learn Sailing Ep 318 - Lady K Sailing7:04from Lady K Sailing
Klepper Cadet5.40 mSame hull family0.4 m longer
We're off to Greece to see our NEW BOAT! 😍 Road trip, catamaran & sailing dinghy22:21from Eternal Sailing
Aubin (Chantier Aubin) Snipe4.72 mSame hull family0.3 m shorterA legendary William F. Crosby-designed fractional dinghy that remains one of the world's most active racing classes
Rio to Polynesia on a 25-Foot Boat, the Journey that Changed Sailing in Brazil Forever | #SAL #368:16from Hashtag Sal
Small Craft Ltd. Wayfarer4.82 mSame hull family0.2 m shorterAn Ian Proctor-designed centreboard dinghy with a high sail-to-displacement ratio, built since 1957 in wood and fibreglass
The Easiest Sailboat You’ll Ever Own – The Wayfarer0:47from Practical Sailor
Finn (Monotype)4.50 mSame hull family0.5 m shorterA Richard Sarby-designed Olympic single-handed dinghy featuring an unstayed cat rig and a long history of competition
SEILmagasinet TV Episode 3 - 202551:39from SEILmagasinet

The family

Boats like this

Nearby designs by size, type, and era — worth a look alongside her.

RS QuestA 140kg fractional sloop with a centerboard trunk designed for stable, versatile training and family sailingRS 21Fractional Sloop · 6.40 m

Keep asking

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