Oz Goose vs Firebug Dinghy

The Goose will take 1 to 3 adults and sail well. The Firebug sails well with an Adult or a couple of kids. But the biggest difference is in the rigging cost where the Goose is a fraction of the cost. See our list below!

I like the Firebug a great deal. But the purposes and functions of the boat only partially overlap.

The costs of the hulls are a little different. The Firebug is built over a frame that you have to find timber for and spend time setting up.

With the goose you get the ply, mark it out and start assembling the boat.

Biggest cost difference is in the rig price.

Apart from ropes – this is the complete fitting list for an Oz Goose.

The benefit of a freestanding mast and the simplicity of a balance lug sail. The sail is much larger than the Firebug so it is a more adult size boat. For kids, the Firebug is better choice. For

• 3 blocks/pulleys without ball bearings (ball bearing blocks not allowed). One may be a ratchet block with or without ball bearings
• Stainless steel ring at top of mast for the halyard
• Horn cleat (plastic 4″) on side of the mast.
• Rudder fittings

Most expensive fittings are done away with. See – Rigging the Oz Goose. These methods have been working on our fleet over 70 boats over the last 5 years with no failure.

Or at least no failures that we didn’t learn from! They might look simple, but they really work for our regular sailing program.

The reason for the simplicity of the Oz Goose.

The reason for so few fittings – we can’t get them in the Philippines so we worked hard to find alternative methods. When we can get them they are way out of local peoples’ price range. Taking purchasing power in developing nations into account the cheapest block/pulley is around 10 bucks … multiply by 6 to get the feeling of how ten bucks feels to local purchasing power.

But still we have to race – so the rigging has to make for efficient sailing. Some of the boats have more adjustable fittings, but they are definitely not faster than than the other boats. It is the person sailing.

We make the sails from Challenge 4oz cloth and distribute worldwide for  USD352 (Oct 2018). Australians can order direct from Really Simple Sails (email us).

Capacity – Goose sails well with one to three people

Here the purposes of the two boats diverge. The goose is set up for single handing as well as more than one person to sail. We have found in the last four years of racing that there is very little difference in speed between boats that are single handed and double handed.

The Goose feels lively and effective even in light winds with three aboard with good acceleration even in small gusts. So good for teaching as well in terms of capacity and response. The big standard sail (89sq ft) makes a lot of difference.

It goes in stronger winds with three adults aboard too. This day was the fastest I went with three.

Oz Goose handling in Waves

If you do stick the nose in at high speed downwind – nothing much happens … steering is fingertip. Keep steering and the boat will go where you want. Little or no water comes aboard. Try that in a Laser 🙂 🙂 or other pointy nose dinghy.

See our Oz Goose in waves section

Goose has much more sail area.

Goose has 89 square feet in the lugsail. The sail can be reefed. down to 65sq ft.

Hull weight for boats built in the tropics is about the same as a Laser – around 130lbs but at about 1/10 of the price of importing one laser into most Asian countries.

Hull weight of gaboon ply in the Advanced Economies is 110 to 120lbs.

Speed of the Oz Goose

Speed of the goose is consistent with a body hiked dinghy of the same weight.

It won’t quite point with a Laser upwind, but it isn’t embarrassing.

As far as firebug/ozgoose – I haven’t a clue as these things are best settled over several club races with good sailors in each boat. That is with one person in the Goose vs one in the Firebug. But goose can race with two and still get around the course in the same time.

And Geese have plenty of downwind speed. We have a series of records for lake sailing. Initially 12 then 12.9 knots  they shot up to 13.8. Current record is 18 knots for 2 seconds on a day when we wouldn’t normally be sailing – club race cancelled just before start time – so I did some speed runs.

Structure of the Oz Goose

The  prime reason for  the boxy shape is to be unintimidating to build.

Before going into build photos – one of the nice results of the boxy shape is the balanced volumes means the tiller remains light and central and the boat will go where you want it to whatever the angle of heel. Even in crazy winds like this day.

Building a box that sails well

Group builds

Final Advice on what type of boat to sail

If you want to join a club and the club has geese or firebugs you should join the fleet that exists. The best learning opportunities come from joining an active local class.

Oz Goose Plan information here

See the Goose building groups in the menu at top. Tell us if you start your own group!

More Information on the Oz Goose