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Aaaarrrgghhh no, not the monofuture again! |
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Chris 249
Really should get out more Joined: 10 May 04 Online Status: Offline Posts: 2041 |
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Topic: Aaaarrrgghhh no, not the monofuture again! Posted: 15 Mar 15 at 8:43am |
WARNING- RANT AHEAD!
So I see from Issuu that according to Y&Y, "the future is here" and it's multihulls. Sorry, Y&Y, you may be the best mag remaining on the planet, but pardon me while I retch, and rant.
What the hell is this "the future" stuff? Surely if the trends in modern society and sport tell us anything, it's that there is no "the" future - there is an ever-increasing number of futures, and many of them are as valid as any other. There is not going to be any future when "the" future is cats, any more than there will be any other monoculture in our sport. And pray tell, how can anyone claim that multis are "the future" when they actually form a much smaller proportion of active boats in many areas than they used to? When multis were in the decline, did anyone say "monos are the future"? Multis are only "on the rise" if you look at a particular time frame..... if you look at the longer time frame in many places they are having a minor rebound from a long decline. Turn the clock back decades and the multi scene was huge, with pro scenes in 85 footers, 60 footers, 40 footers and even Hobies, and vast club fleets in many areas. It seems that many people writing these days are just ignorant of what has passed before them. This is not an anti-multi rant; we raced our cat again today and I'm loving it (and also loving how good dinghies feel when I get back into them). It's a rant about the fact that there seems to be so much concentration on style and PR hype over reality and substance in our sport these days, and so little tolerance for the fact that different people like different ways to sail. So, with respect for Y&Y staff, can someone please find a bunch of old mags where people wrote similar stuff about how boards were the future, or skiffs were the future, or canting keels were the future, and give whoever calls multis or foilers "the future" a slap over the face with them* until they actually do some research into the nature and history of sailing and sport... Anyway, sorry to all those who kept reading...... sometimes you've just got to vent! * with all due care to follow all OH&S regulations, avoid cruelty, pain and suffering etc. We're talking loving chastisement here. Edited by Chris 249 - 15 Mar 15 at 9:23am |
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Rupert
Really should get out more Joined: 11 Aug 04 Location: Whitefriars sc Online Status: Offline Posts: 8956 |
Post Options Quote Reply Posted: 15 Mar 15 at 8:50am |
I confess I thought similar when I read it. What it might be the short term future of is "newsworthy" pro circuits, till the next future arrives.
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Firefly 2324, Puffin 229, Minisail 3446 Mirror 70686
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Do Different
Really should get out more Joined: 26 Jan 12 Location: North Online Status: Offline Posts: 1312 |
Post Options Quote Reply Posted: 15 Mar 15 at 8:57am |
Nicely ranted people. |
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JimC
Really should get out more Joined: 17 May 04 Location: United Kingdom Online Status: Offline Posts: 6649 |
Post Options Quote Reply Posted: 15 Mar 15 at 9:05am |
New editorial staff...
Actually I sometimes wonder if the inshore multihull scene has ever matched the liveliness and vigour it had in the 1960s when there seems to have been any amount of exciting stuff going on. Edited by JimC - 15 Mar 15 at 9:14am |
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Post Options Quote Reply Posted: 15 Mar 15 at 9:16am |
I actually think the route cats have gone down in the last few years will not do them any favours for their future. High aspect daggerboards and now foils, bonded beams etc. Practicality out the window and prices thru the roof.
From the outside it seems that the only people recently converting to cats are those who seek glory, fame and media exposure. I doubt they have a special love for cats, just a big ego. Back 25 years ago I crewed on cats that rate about equal to a 49er, but we're simple enough for a father and son team to sail in all conditions and locations. By contrast the Olympic N17 seems a nightmare to handle with high sheet loads and awful pitching characteristics. |
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fab100
Really should get out more Joined: 15 Mar 11 Online Status: Offline Posts: 1005 |
Post Options Quote Reply Posted: 15 Mar 15 at 9:47am |
Not read said article, but on the basis that the objective of an article is to grab attention, entertain and provide a talking point, arguably it's a success already.
Conversely, if you want to be seen as authoritative, rather than trolling that can have the same effect ( not that we could name any trolls on here), this is indeed a manifest fail as a bit of futurology. Most inland (and harbour) clubs like ours don't have a big enough stretch of water. Most clubs do not have dinghy parks big enough for dinghies let alone cats requiring two or four times the space. Neither do marinas or harbours when it comes to the kept-afloat variety. Many of us like close tactical racing, not bang-the-corner, a-tack-costs-miles boat-speed fests. And then you have capital spending inertia; we're going to all sell monos for multis. Yeah right. However, if it becomes the sole pro-sailing, TV focused, Olympic, Americas Cup etc platform, then great, it can become the irrelevant ghetto it ought to be. <recurring rant mode on> Then the RYA would either refocus on club sailing or naff-of and stop messing it up
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Post Options Quote Reply Posted: 15 Mar 15 at 9:55am |
Cat sailing is not irrelevant. It is simple and great fun. But the latest generation cats are too impractical and expensive to be anything other than a tiny niche.
I'm surprised there haven't been more designs like the Vortex - small, narrow, t foil rudders, mono sized. |
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JimC
Really should get out more Joined: 17 May 04 Location: United Kingdom Online Status: Offline Posts: 6649 |
Post Options Quote Reply Posted: 15 Mar 15 at 11:16am |
I felt the trouble with the Vortex was it was an uneasy compromise, and it didn't do dinghy stuff as well as a dinghy or cat stuff as well as a cat, or really anything in an outstanding manner. Its got its own little niche for folks who value its combination of attributes, which is fair enough, but I don't know there's room for any more in there.
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turnturtle
Really should get out more Joined: 05 Dec 14 Online Status: Offline Posts: 2538 |
Post Options Quote Reply Posted: 15 Mar 15 at 5:13pm |
Haven't read it, but such a good rant can I just say ... +1
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Woodburner
Far too distracted from work Joined: 13 Mar 15 Location: Folkestone Kent Online Status: Offline Posts: 332 |
Post Options Quote Reply Posted: 15 Mar 15 at 6:51pm |
Me to, + 1 Since when has this place been cats and catting? Not even going to look for the article.
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