V Twin

Originally posted by rogue I do wonder if there was an element of unfortunate timing there Jim... having seen the boat recently I do think you were onto something, and 'Version 2011' could be more exotic without necessarily the cost constraints you no doubt faced back then. There were three mainstreams offerings to bored laser sailors kicking around... Laser EPS, RS300 and Blaze. Probably when dinghy marketing was at its strongest too.   Only one of those is really in main active production today (okay, okay... you and five mates can get a batch of 300s made if you really want them...) Maybe when we've clawed out of the economic rut there will be more space for another development 'class', although why you'd saddle a fluid concept of loose commonality with the dinghy baggage of a class structure I don't know.

Oh come on, there is nothing to stop you and your mates playing round with individually designed boats but if you wish to race properly and encourage others to join in then you need some design parameters to make it fair. What better way than with a class association?

Originally posted by alstorer ... did the D-Class ever actually happen?

Well if a few multihull morons can be brought back onto the path of true sailing righteousness by this device then fair enough, but it aint a cat, it's a tunnel hulled split planing surface three stage rockered hull.

Originally posted by Slippery Jim All that wetted surface area, and again non-linear drag on the displacement to planing curve.

Originally posted by Rupert None of the development classes we have are being built at home any more, are they, bar a few people experimenting with the new Canoe rules?

I can think of half a dozen home builds Int Moths in the UK alone in the last year or two and half a dozen more in Europe. It's still happening.