Lightweight Canoes

I think this board has a very different atmosphere to Sailing Anarchy and I'd rather keep it that way. Anyone who has followed SA will understand what I mean. You have already posted at length on this subject in Steve's thread there and the debate has descending to the usual "yah-boo" mudslinging. While you personally seem quite civil, hijacking other people's threads to ride personal hobby-horses - in your case foils - invites this kind of response. Please don't start it here. 

good example

Hi guys
Not being a canoe sailor i was unaware of the rift between the conventional and the kite guys.  I very much like to see development in all classes and i think its great how sailing has evolved within each class over the years.  I thought it was great when the canoe opted to have a kite and i also like the boat just as much without it.  However maybe this is where the problem emerges, maybe the devolpments are too fast.  A 20 kilo drop is a huge amount of weight reduction in one go much like adding the size of kite they did (sorry im not aware of the actual size, looks pretty big tho).  I wonder if the people in the class who suggested the weight drop are worried about the class fading in popularity against boats like the int. moth now with hydro's.  If this is the case then i think its maybe unwarrented.  Ok yes there are boats that seem to be developing quickly but then look at how many years classes like the moth and int 14 and cherub play with the ideas before really making anything of them. 
Im very much for an overall weight reduction that is being presented but spread it out over the years, make the boats gradually lighter. 
And to all the Kite guys and conventional guys, stick together! you've got an amazing boat on ur hands but not sticking together is much more likely to put people off the boat than anything else!

Shame to hear that the IC & AC sailors can't work together ...

Peoples loyalty to a class is worse than religion ...

I'd agree with Stefan; dropping the weight by such a large % will make those entering the class in 2nd hand boats even less competitive; and as such would put me off ...

Rick

The AC (3 sail vesion) contingent has developed a formula that they regard as highly successful.  They do not wish to modify it or to even receive input from the IC sailors. In fact they even have trouble accepting suggestions from AC sailors who aren't from Britian. But they are happy and having fun, so they should be allowed to continue. Great!

In the mean time there are others who maybe didn't agree that the addition of a 23m^2 spinnacher to a restricted sail area class was necessarily the appropriate way to speed up a historicly significant class, and felt that returning to something like the development formula that got us here in the first place was probably a better idea.  The only really significant change in the proposal is the reduction in weight made possible by 70 years of material science since the rule was first envisioned. Other old classes, like the I-14 have made similar weight reductions. 

The hope is that the ICs performance upwind will become balanced by better off wind speed and more interesting and tactical runs because the boat will be sailed at angles instead of run square.  This should be an elegant sailing machine.

SHC