Sailing the Zenith Dinghy
The sun came out, the tide was coming in, and a gentle breeze started to blow over the estuary at Berwick upon Tweed Sailing Club. And so it was that, 48 hours after waving goodbye the Mark Hartley at the Hartley Boats factory with my new Zenith in tow, I found myself launching in near calm conditions for what turned out to be three hours of very light to occasionally moderate wind followed by 10 minutes of force 4 or even force 5. Thank you to the weather gods!
So how was it? One word, awesome. This is the 45th boat I’ve owned in 43 years of continually active sailing in 34 different classes. Everything from Mirror dinghies to Hurricane catamarans, you name it, I’ve been there, and I’ve tried many more too. I do like a multihull, fast and fun, but it’s dinghies that float my boat, literally, these days as cat racing opportunities are few and far between up here in North Northumberland.
It’s best I tell you how I got here. A first sail at age 10 with dad ended badly and it was oars and outboard from then on, much to my frustration. By 17, watching Hobie cats flirting across the bay on holiday, it was clear something had to be done. While my friends went on drunken trips to Ibiza I got a summer job, saved up, bought a Mini Metro with a towbar (obviously) and a Laser (as you do). I taught myself to sail in the rocky surf of the Celtic Sea and survived long enough to realise this was a lifelong obsession. And so began my 44 year quest to find the perfect sailboat to take me to all the way to my grave whilst always being comfortable and going fast. The sailboat equivalent of a Rolls Royce with prowess, comfort, handling, speed and safety, whilst never being unnecessarily wet or uncomfortable, was needed. Surely such a boat exists but which is it? Roll on a couple of decades and many classes later it still eluded me. It was clearly yet to be designed.
Designing the Dream: From K1 to Zenith
Ever since, as the classes of boat came and went, this Holy Grail of sailboat design took shape in my head. Eventually I settled on some ideals. It had to have a big, powerful, catamaran style square top sail on a state-of-the-art carbon rig that could be depowered easily. It had to have a long waterline, stiff and light, planing hull with sharp chines to track to windward when heeled. I wanted a deep cockpit with the most comfortable hiking position ever, a very high boom, and a pivoting centreboard (no blooming daggerboards in the way). And finally, after about 3 decades, I decided it needed lead in the centreboard, enough to make it essentially self-righting, and it should have the ability to sail with whatever amount of water the cockpit could hold. Yes that centreboard weight would slow the boat but in turn it would make possible that huge rig and speed would be maintained whilst stability increased all round in all conditions.
With the idea formulated I finally thought I’d found it when the K1 was released in 2009. But it was not to be. Don’t get me wrong, I love the K1, it’s a great boat. But (there is always a but) I had issues. I do most of my sailing in the sea off a steep soft sand beach. There are often waves and nearly always a cross-current. There is no slipway or jetty and, in late spring and summer, the floating seaweed can resemble something like those football pitch size islands in the Sargasso Sea. I could see issues in launching the boat, trying to raise the main with the keel raised and conflicting with the kicker, landing on the beach, clearing that weed from the keel bulb, and so on. That early adopter deal (£4999 for the first 10 if I remember) was tempting but I was after my holy grail, a planing dinghy, not a mini keel boat. So it was a no from the Northumberland jury.
The First Encounter: Seeing the Zenith in the Flesh
The seemingly never-ending wait resumed until one day in December 2024 when I had to talk to Mark Hartley about how to fix one of my 3 other Hartley Boats. Yes I know, I’m a fan of the brand, they make boats, good boats, because they really love sailing and why not make a living in something you love? This is not a faceless corporation simply after your hard earned. We got sidetracked and chatted about his new Wanderer Weekender with self-righting centreplate (the Wanderer being the best cruising dinghy, period, and one of my Hartley ‘fleet’). I mentioned my generational quest for the racing single hander equivalent and Mark’s reply was to say “Funny you should say that, we’re designing it right now”. He gave me a few overall design principles, confirmed that the legendary Phil Morrison would be doing the detail, a target weight and rough size. It was enough for me, after 5 decades I’d found my Rolls Royce. Praise be to Neptune! I reached for the credit card and never looked back.
Which brings me back to the start. I collected it 28 July. It was several weeks late but worth the wait. Demand was so high that they are just finalising a second mould and will be producing 2 a week any day now. With 65 orders to date, maybe I wasn’t the only person on this quest after all. I took my friend Tom with me to collect it. He’s a wise one who gets his Zenith in another 2 weeks. We walked in and there she stood, fully rigged with mast tip, as tall as the huge Osprey alongside it, all but piercing the ceiling at the ridge. I saw Tom’s eyes start at the hull and run all the way to the ceiling, leaving his jaw on the floor. Elephant in the room time…..that rig is huge! Is it too big? No, but more on that later. Build quality was, as always, exceptional. The hull was supremely finished, unbelievably stiff, and totally airtight. We had the boat tour then the factory tour. Seeing how they make that lead weighted epoxy carbon centreboard was amazing, what a piece of kit! Eventually it was time to go so we quickly de-rigged and hit the road.
Sea Trials and First Impressions
Two days later and it was proof of the pudding time. I launched with consummate ease like any other light single hander. The boat sat there as stable as a lighthouse. I hopped on, sheeted in and dropped the board. With board down you pop in a pin to keep it there in the almost non-existent possibility of an inversion (you wouldn’t want the 40Kg board retracted when upside down). The pin is designed to break in the event of impact with the shore and a spare is provided. Other than that, it’s a standard simple layout for easy, uncomplicated sailing. Outhaul, kicker and downhaul are led to both sides on continuous lines, Allen components are fitted all-round. I had gone for off-the-boom sheeting and it was the right choice giving a supremely clear and clean cockpit with unlimited downwind seating positions. The cockpit is deep with the sole nearly touching the outer hull. The area in front of the upwind sitting position is filled in for buoyancy and it reduces the volume of water that can fill the cockpit, for the high-capacity twin bailers to empty, to a minimum. The low transom makes for easy re-entry to the boat if ever needed and needs no transom flaps or other complications.
Everything works as it should, and it is quite simply the most comfortable boat I’ve ever sat in, no knee pads needed! I did a three hour stint in a range of wind and came out feeling as fresh as I went in. The next day, not any aching muscles to be found.
In light, occasionally moderate, breeze I got a feel for things. Control was precise and responsive at all times and stability superb. The hull is as stiff as granite and responds to every gust with relish. I tried to test stability by sailing upwind while hiking out on the leeward side of the boat but just as my bum started to sense the North Sea she simply rounded up into the wind like a yacht and stopped. I spent all the time with my head out the boat enjoying the view. I could sail standing with confidence and even gybe while standing with just a small duck as the boom went over. The non-slip on the cockpit floor is as rough as a baboon’s bum at a safari park and slipping was never going to be an issue. After a few hours of blissful sailing I was ready for more and started the evening race. I shot off the start in little breeze effortlessly, clear wind all to myself. The forecast was for the wind to veer 100 degrees mid race and so it did (they said it would two days before, how do they do that?). In the process of veering it died to nothing. I ghosted on the incoming tide, sail flapping in the apparent wind whilst others got closer. Then, happy in its new direction, the wind filled back in. Firstly force 1, then 2, then 3 and 4, in a space of a few minutes it was lifting the sand. I rounded what was now the leeward mark and set off on a beam reach for the next. The wind still increasing, the boat took off like a rocket. If you’ve seen the videos on the Hartley website you’ll see that, unlike most boats, it does not ride a bow wave while dragging its transom and throwing a bucketful of water into your face for a sinus washout with every wave. Instead you stay dry and totally in control as it skims the surface slapping away on every wavelet just like a windsurfer. The bow barely rises above the water and all is calm and controlled but fast, very very fast. I felt totally confident at all times despite the speed and power. At the wing mark I spun it around with the control of a jetski only to find myself beating and it was suddenly that elephant in the room time, AKA an 11sqm square top sail on a very tall rig!
I was instantly overpowered but always in control. Excessive healing just brings the weight in the centreboard into play whilst moving its pivot point to the gunwale for added leverage. It’s like having a mini invisible me always jumping on the tip of the board before you’ve had time to even see the gust.
The thing that 40 years of cat racing taught me was how to handle BIG, tall, high aspect, sails that can’t be reefed. Back to collection day and, while Tom’s jaw dropped at the sight of that rig indoors, my thoughts turned immediately to one word: downhaul! Mark Hartley arrived and after the friendly inspection of the goods he turned to the sailing advice. He said, “Downhaul is your friend here” (anyone would think he’d been a multihull sailor, but I think not so maybe he said cunningham instead). He went on to say that when you’ve pulled on all you possibly can and the wind is screeching, you need to pull on some more. My thoughts exactly! His final tip was that, if all else fails, let off some kicker to raise the boom and let the top of the sail twist off. Yep, he knows his stuff.
So, whilst small fluffy doggies floated on the end of their leads whilst being sandblasted on the beach, I’m sure a big beefy guy would be fine. But even though I exist in a continual state of dieting and am too fond of a pie, I’m at the lower end of the Zenith weight range and it was time to put that cat sailing experience and Mark’s advise to use. On went the downhaul, then some more, and then some! Off went the kicker and in came the outhaul. The mast bent more than a bendy thing and the roach twisted off. The boat settled, I could sheet in again, free off a bit and fly upwind. It was proper hiking time for the first time and, with toes under the straps and bum over the side, I was a comfortable as I am in the sofa in front of Netflix! The game was on, but, sadly, the race was over. Despite the drama I was always in control and stability was never in doubt.
Back to the beach recovery was a cinch, just another lightweight dinghy in disguise.
Final Verdict: My Holy Grail of Dinghies
So, have I found my Holy Grail? You bet I have. The Zenith is by far the best boat I have ever sailed, period. It’s easy, simple, forgiving, safe, dry, and fast, very fast. I would not swap it for any of the 44 other boats I’ve owned, even if you paid me to. Quite simply nothing compares and I feel confident that, for as long as I can stand, I’ll be able to enjoy this boat. I cannot stress that enough. The Rolls Royce analogy fits perfectly.
Should you buy one? That’s for you to decide but let’s compare it to its most direct competition. Firstly, the K1, which is currently £12,795 for a complete boat and secondly, the Hadron, which is currently £14,950 complete. After an initial release offer the Zenith now sits at £10,995 complete. Despite being cheaper, I’d say the Zenith is the better boat, but that’s just my opinion. But, as a certain Romanian car brand would say, you do the maths.
Meanwhile I’ve had my ongoing Sailing Hall of Fame sitting in my head for decades. Occasionally people do enough to be virtually added, Uffa Fox, Ellen McArthur, Ian Procter, Ben Ainslie, Robin Knox-Johnston, Phil Morrison, my namesake Dee Caffari, to name but a few. But I think it’s time to roll out the red carpet, don the designer sparkly dress, and induct Mark and Richard Hartley to their rightful place with the great and good of sailing.
Fair winds, whatever you sail.
Dee Hutchins – 31/07/2025
For the avoidance of doubt, I should say this is my own review and I have no connection to the builders whatsoever.