Sailing without safety cover

Originally posted by Strawberry Originally posted by charlie w Who actually knows what their kit's limit is - especially in a "home build style of class". I would suggest that someone who has spent years designing and building his own boats would have a much better impression of the limits of the boat, than a SMOD sailor who's sailing a boat which is INTENTIONALLY BUILT BADLY to comply with a licence.

That's quite a sweeping statement especially after the recent topics about Cherub sailors complaining about rescue cover when their boats fail.... (although its not limited to cherub sailors making the complaint).  I'm not jumping on any bandwagons but it has been mainly Cherub sailors making the complaint.

It's simple if you want to compare SMODs against Development boats, both sides list the ammount of gear failures they have and we see which is the most reliable......

I sail an SMOD that comes from the same boat-shed as some of the fastest 14s so reckon the build quality can't be that much different. There are poorly built SMODs and development class designs but its ignorant to say a boat is bad because its a SMOD or Development class.

Think most people consider home-built boats to be less quality than boats built by manufacturers due to the fact that home building is associated with an amatuer pursuit but if someone has the relative experience and means, it doesn't really make a difference if the boat is built in a garage or profesional boat shed.

Originally posted by Guest#260 Originally posted by Strawberry Originally posted by Guest#260 Originally posted by allanorton Originally posted by Strawberry [I would suggest that someone who has spent years designing and building his own boats would have a much better impression of the limits of the boat, than a SMOD sailor who's sailing a boat which is INTENTIONALLY BUILT BADLY to comply with a licence. Don't talk rubbish, manufacturers cannot risk putting out badly built anything these days.  They cannot risk having court cases / bad publicity, their products may not be the highest of quality but you can bet they're safe to use.  I would have more confidence going out in a force 8 in anything laser/topper/rs have made than anything in the uk cherub fleet! Quite - the CE mark and compiance with the RCD http://www.ceproof.com/recreational_craft_directive_RCD.htm Do actually stand for somthing ... BTW ... many manufactures produce very high quality and specification products. Rick I believe "craft intended solely for racing" are excluded from the RCD. I am not sure that is correct - there are examptions from the RCD I believe for home built boats. YOu should check with the RCD for the details as I am not an expert. Rick

May I suggest you check and fully understand your facts before relying on a directive in your argument, rather than tryin to shift the onus onto me to check it for you.

Edited by Strawberry

Originally posted by Guest#260 Originally posted by Strawberry I believe "craft intended solely for racing" are excluded from the RCD. I am not sure that is correct - there are examptions from the RCD I believe for home built boats.

There are exemptions from the RCD for both home built boats and craft designed purely for racing. However if your home built boat isn't also in the "craft designed for racing" category there are some pretty draconian limitations about when and how you can sell it. But before taking any decisions consult a primary source, don't rely on what I say.

My somewhat controversial opinion is that like a lot of these EU things the main thing the RCD does is to make it difficult for one EU country to create regulations that put up barriers to importing things from other EU countries. It doesn't really do an awful lot for the end user other than putting the price of everything up.

On the other topic I've never noticed any particular correlation between the standard of maintenance of boats and whether that boat was orginally SMOD, pro built one design, home built or anything else. Nor, for that matter, have I noticed any great corrrelation between build source and poor design/choice of fittings. You notice poor decisions on SMODs more because all the boats have the same problem, whereas with multi builder boats (pro or home) its unlikely that everyone will make the same mistake.

The only thing is that the more complex a boat is then the more scope there is for maintenance related breakages.

Edited by JimC

Originally posted by allanorton Originally posted by Strawberry [I would suggest that someone who has spent years designing and building his own boats would have a much better impression of the limits of the boat, than a SMOD sailor who's sailing a boat which is INTENTIONALLY BUILT BADLY to comply with a licence. Don't talk rubbish, manufacturers cannot risk putting out badly built anything these days.  They cannot risk having court cases / bad publicity, their products may not be the highest of quality but you can bet they're safe to use.  I would have more confidence going out in a force 8 in anything laser/topper/rs have made than anything in the uk cherub fleet!

True but there have been serious problems with the early RS600 masts breaking. Topper using the same rudder fittings on the Topaz race X as the topper which has been the cause of a large amount to breakages, Topper's use of dissimilar metal rivets in the topaz mast causing many to break in F1-2 conditions... to name a few.

Edited by m_liddell

Originally posted by allanorton Originally posted by Strawberry [I would suggest that someone who has spent years designing and building his own boats would have a much better impression of the limits of the boat, than a SMOD sailor who's sailing a boat which is INTENTIONALLY BUILT BADLY to comply with a licence. Don't talk rubbish, manufacturers cannot risk putting out badly built anything these days.  They cannot risk having court cases / bad publicity, their products may not be the highest of quality but you can bet they're safe to use.  I would have more confidence going out in a force 8 in anything laser/topper/rs have made than anything in the uk cherub fleet!

Quite - the CE mark and compiance with the RCD

http://www.ceproof.com/recreational_craft_directive_RCD.htm

Do actually stand for somthing ...

BTW ... many manufactures produce very high quality and specification products.

Rick