A new class of dinghy?

The production process and the materials are all tied together, one defines the other. To reduce cost you have to consider the two together. It is no good having a low cost material if the process is expensive . I can't see any breakthrough in materials around the corner either so don't hold your breath.

You beat me to it David Y. 

Originally posted by davidyacht Originally posted by Sam.Spoons Originally posted by davidyacht The problem with Laser is that they have increased the retail price to a point that they we have lost the benefits of their volume production. FTFY Thankyou

So £20 a week depreciation? On average I probably go racing 26 times a year so that's £40 each for a days racing? It doesn't really matter if its a dev class or an SMOD, new boats depreciate faster than cars but that's the price we pay for our fun. The way I deal with it is to choose a boat and keep it for several years, the last boat I bought I've had for two years (actually that's not true, the last boat I bought was I bought a Supernova but I didn't get on with it so sold it again). That paradigm is no good if I want to win at National level but fine to get good racing at club and regional events. I guess what I am saying is that, unless you want to win at a high level you pick your budget and cut your sailcloth accordingly.

Originally posted by RS400atC Originally posted by JimC Its not very hard to conceive a machine that uses mechanical means to lay up a network of fibres and 3d printing like deposition techniques to put down a matrix. Whether such a thing is practical and offers any advantages over say resin infusion is another matter. But historically advanced sailboat tech has been a spin off from aerospace at least since WW2, so that's going to be the place to go to look for new materials and techniques. If there's nothing on the horizon now there will be sooner or later. Sounds like the kind of machine which lays the fibres for a carbon mast or a load-map sail.