Why choose REO Sportsboats?

While other designers have used Computational Fluid Dynamics and have scaled down successful mini-maxis and TP52s we just put a 24 foot prototype on the water and knocked off all the other sporty boats, old and new that were 30 foot or so in length!

You don’t need half the neighbourhood on board. While the other boats have clouds of sail and at least half a tonne of lead, three or four crew will be enough to keep the REO on her feet and cruising past all of the others. Check out the videos to see how quick and stable she is in a breeze!

Other yacht designers pack as much sail area (horsepower) on their boats as possible make them out of carbon (nice) but then weigh them down with lead and the need to pack a crew of 6 or more onboard for ballast! This delivers a heavy package with high windage, equivalent to a truck.

REO Sportsboats have created boats with low weight, low windage and a high power to weight ratio with performance more like a sports car! With only 3 or 4 crew our boats are easy to sail and move seemlesly from displacement mode onto the plane.

Using parameters overlooked by other designers, we’ve created sports boats that not only have better performance but are easier to sail too. The long chines make the boat very stable and the light weight means that as the breeze increases she accelerates quickly and the loads on the boat and all of the sheets stay low so the speed is easy!

“Thanks again for the sail. Although I have been seeing its performance all season it was still an eye opener to sail on her” – Jim Dwyer

How does 8 knots upwind and 20 knots downwind with a crew of only three or four in a 25 footer sound?

Our boat, the REO 7.2 “REO Speedwagon” blitzed the field at the 2017 ASBA (Sports boat) Nationals and continues to beat boats up to more than 40 feet long in all conditions.

Through further innovation, we have improved again on the concept of the REO 7.2, the ASBA National Champion, to make a more potent and user friendly package in a one-design sports boat, the REO 7.7.

Our new design, REO 7.7, is engineered to ISO 12215 Category C and built with vacuum infused epoxy, foam core and carbon fibre reinforcements in the major load areas. 

Wondering how we do it? We invite you to discover what makes us tick.

What makes REO Sportsboats different?

A detailed analysis of the performance of sports boats has seen a movement towards higher sail area to displacement ratios (power to weight ratios). Initially, sports boats increased the sail area they carried, this resulted in sports boats being overpowered in 15 knots or more.

With the REO design, Andrew has created a boat with a small rig that excels in 15 knots or more, which is quite common in the Australian summer. With the mast about 30% shorter than a boat of its size would usually have the drag upwind in a breeze is reduced by a similar proportion. The resulting speed to weather in strong wind is quite amazing for a boat of its size.

In addition to a small rig, the rest of the boat has been kept light so that the sail area to displacement ratio (SA/Disp) is superior to most. While other boats are designed with minimal wetted surface when they’re upright, the hull of the REO is more like Comanche or a dinghy, with the wide hull and low chines giving exceptional form stability. As the power to weight ratio is very good, performance in light air is great as the wetted surface can be reduced by heeling the boat.

Most other naval architects are designing scaled down TP52s, which has resulted in high powered little yachts (with crew weight contributing to 40% of boat weight). These designs have provided good but not ground breaking results.

In comparison, the REO design makes better use of live ballast, with crew weight 70% of the boat weight. As a result of this design, the weight of the crew contributes much more to the stability. Boats of this size can use their crew weight to greater advantage than larger yachts yet other designers have not picked up on this to the extent that we have at REO Sportsboats.

Also, the SA/Disp. ratio of the REO design is about 50% more than the high powered little yachts people are referring to as sports boats. As the rig on the REO is small for its hull size, it is very manageable, even in strong conditions.

See the spreadsheet below for a comparison of performance factors across different designs.

REO Sportsboats vs. Other Sports Boats

Every ratio is a factor in performance