49er sails

They are updating it because it is falling behind. Its quite embaressing when two middle aged men in their 40s+ plus in 14s are keeping up with all but the simon hiscocks of this worlds etc . And the amount 49er teams spend a year its not really that much. They are only updating to try and stay in the game. I mean a 9er isnt excatly slow. But they need to be seen to be with or atleast ahead of the trend would you say?

Originally posted by Isis Completely dissagree im afraid! The ethos of the 14 is to develop to be faster than previous generations of boats... the price of keeping the class as a whole at the forefront of technology is that older boats fall behind and gradualy become less competative. Surely the point of a OD is to have all boats equal... to be able to step into a 15year old boat and still have as good a shot at winning the worlds as the next bloke? Ive got to be honest... I dont see how you can cut a compramise between the two... unless the changes are gradual or cost motivated/nessicary for the classes survival. A change like this, when the class is in good health could only be damaging IMHO.

The changes are going to be in a while i believe a coulpe of years methinks. And i would of thought so tbh. Say you found the oldest 9er you could and tried to race new ones you'd have your trousers taken down. Even if you were as good as hiscocks etc. All boats are supposed to be competitive but, if you look at the results from the princess sophia comp. All the top 10 boats were less than 1-2 years old i would of thought. Oh well im off to bed because its late and i cant be arsed to argue

Seems a lot of effort and expense for minimal improvement. Square top sails will be more controllable as Jim has said about the GT60 sail plan elsewhere, but they do come with their drawbacks, such as reduced upwind performance compared to the oliptical type shape already formed by the current main and higher drag although it will help produce more offwind performance by projecting more area. From recollection, originally I think the class experimented with full carbon sections but the verdict was they were too costly and had a bad habbit of breaking. Julian has openly stated the only thing which he'd have changed with the design was cleaner foils, which seems to have happened now.

As for boats being uncompetitive after two years, think that's a bit of an unfair statement. The pro-sailors who are at the front of the fleet have the oppurtunity to go through boats quite quickly and given the option in any class, given the chance of having a new boat every season or so, you'd hardly turn it down. The difference between the front of the fleet and the back may be more down to hours spent on the water more than anything else. It's quite easy to start blaming the boat if you aren't doing well in a highly competitive class, and have seen it right across the board in many classes.

Originally posted by 49erGBR735HSC ...given the option in any class, given the chance of having a new boat every season or so, you'd hardly turn it down.

Certainly in a strict one design like the 49er, where workup time for a new boat should be minimal, if the budget is there it makes sense to go for a new boat before any maintenance hassles like blocks starting to wear out and so on start giving you trouble.

By contrast, in an open class where it might take you montths to get a new style hull shape and rig worked up properly and working to the optimum, its always tempting to put off the new boat while the old one is still anywhere near competitive.

It does seem to be the case that top sailors change boats less often in the open classes, bit I do wonder if workup time isn't just as much of an issue as longevity because the boats are built to the highest possible standard rather than down to a price..

Is there not a whole section in "High Performance Sailing" where Frank tries to say that an ally spar topped with a glass tip is a whole load better than an all carbon spar?

I always found this very hard to swallow, unless it was written at the time where carbon was that bad that the ally/glass bit was genuinly better (however my copy was printed in 2003...).  The cynic in me always felt that this was abit of marketing spin, very interesting that an all carbon rigis being proposed now!