Stand Up and Sail - boats.com

A few years ago, a middle-aged man came to my windsurfing and sailing school and insisted on renting a sailboard, despite never having sailed one before. Normally, we would never have rented to a never-ever boardsailor; we'd have steered him into a lesson program. But this guy was so insistent and convinced that he could sail one while still smoking his cigar (I'm not kidding), we decided to let him give it a try.

The cigar was still in his mouth 30 minutes later when he returned to our launch dock — in our chase boat — but it wasn't lit and would never be lit again. If we would have had one of the new Vanguard Sungliders in our fleet, he probably would have pulled off his panatela stunt.

The new Sunglider, from the builders of the Laser, Sunfish, Optimist and 420 (among others), is easily the most bizarre daysailing craft I've seen in a long, long time. And I can't wait to try one out.

Looking like a cross between a sailboard and the old Sailfish, the most striking feature of the Sunglider is its steering wheel. Mounted on a telescoping aluminum shaft, the wheel sticks up from the deck and looks like a mechanical boom vang in search of a boom. To sail the Sunglider, you stand up, grab the wheel and duck under the boom when tacking or gybing. My apologies to boardsailors, but that's how God intended for man to sail — duck! The boom is at shoulder height; beginners will have to beware the inadvertent gybe or learn one of sailing's most painful lessons.

There are only 63 square feet of sail on the Sunglider. This is not a high-performance, fast craft. Vanguard is targeting the Sunglider at the resort markets. You'll see these at a lot of Florida and Caribbean beach-rental operations this winter. The ease of use and the novelty of the steering mechanism may prove very successful at getting persons out on the water who won't, or can't, take a series of windsurfing lessons.

With nearly 300 liters of displacement, sailors weighing upward of 250 pounds will have no problem keeping the deck above water. The daggerboard and rudder are pivoting, making them even more "tourist friendly" and less likely to suffer damage (another plus for rental and school operators).

The fiberglass hull weighs 90 pounds. Sail trim is on the column: a 2:1 purchase mainsheet is led up the telescoping steering column to a cam cleat. Full assembly out of the box is just 10 minutes. The sail is sleeved and fits over a two-piece mast. The steering column attaches to a universal joint that looks much like the original mechanical joints on the first Windsurfer brand sailboards in the early 70s. A large, clear panel in the sail makes for excellent visibility.

At $2,800 this is not going to find its way onto too many private waterfront yards, but Vanguard is confident that sales to resorts will be brisk.

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