Who was out this weekend?.....

ignore this post


Edited by ratface

the boat wasnt but the old main/jib was and a mast
tho we have had a 18 stored in the boatpark before!

but my are the jibs massive

sailed a club 2000 today in a nice breeze

tho the course was a holly leaf, don't ask me why


end of the day. needed to make a space for the 5k to go in, moved a horrid topper(yellow decked )
then...

as something to stop stuff growing underneath it i found myself a old 18ft skiff "Base1" jib lying on the floor of the boatpark in the area the unused cr*p boats are.
now i can say i've held a 18's jib and put a hole in the sail

I am not into the politics, just developing the rig for the class, I have a new 14 on the way....

But from what I see, the top guys are going through alot of masts, these of course filter down to 'Jo Public' through the second hand market as do the top guys sails hulls etc. Problem being the current mast is not consistant enough for Olympic level and do not last long enough. So what do you do? Design a new mast that is full carbon, lighter and lasts alot longer or keep buying lots of an average mast. The new mast is not likely to cost much more than the current mast but of course you would need the main also.

Ultimatly you should end up with lower campaign costs and a much more 'one design' product than is currently available.

For the non sponsored sailor it will cost more to remain competitive with the current rig than to adopt the new one.

The class has yet to vote on adopting the new mast, I believe that vote will be in January at the Worlds.

FYI top 14 sailors keep the same mast for the life of the boat, 49er sailors are using three to four masts a year currently.   

Its a good idea the new rig only problem is how it effects the Joe Public fleet!  Its certainly stopping us moving to the class for the time being!