Uninvented classes

Originally posted by Tornado_ALIVE [QUOTE=Jon Emmett] How about some formula boats that are not as radical in development and a bit easier on the hip pocket.

I've got some ideas here. I am thinking of calling the classes "National 12" and "Merlin Rocket". Think they will catch on?

 

Originally posted by lozza Perhaps a better solution would be to get RS, laser, ovi, etc to go back to their earlier classes and re-market them.

But those dreadful tubs like the 5tonner have to be about the top of the "need abolishing" list [ducks, runs]

Originally posted by hurricane the problem with national 12s or merlin rockets is that they are seen as old classes the catamaran f16, f18 and f20 are up to date modern classes and people want to sail them.

The small flaw in that argument is that according to Y&Ys charts more sailors turned up at either the National 12 or Merlin Nationals than all the Formula Cat Nationals put together, so it seems as if people want to sail them rather more than the Formula Cats...

Originally posted by hurricane You do not get a wooden f18!!!!!

If you want to encourage development classes, it is far easier to construct one-off boats in wood. If you look at the Merlin Rocket, many are now made of plastic but the moulds come off successful (initially one-off) wooden hulls. One-off plastic construction is very expensive. That is one of the reasons one-off racing yacht construction is almost dead; the cost is 4-5 times that of a similarly sized production boat.

There are 90+ boats at Salcombe Merlin Week, year after year, as manufacturers one-designs come and go. Not everyone wants that kind of boat but there are plenty who do. 

Originally posted by Bruce Starbuck Yes, we need some more dinghy classes. There aren't quite enough are there? On the opposite tack, I vaguely remember someone writing into Y&Y a few years back and suggesting that we needed to abolish crap classes that are past their sell by date, to try and "un-dilute" sailing in the UK and get fleet sizes up again. Predictably he was shot down in flames, mainly by sailors of said crap classes, but I reckon he was on to something. First round of the great Crap Class Cull: Foxer, Graduate, Heron, Pacer, Signet, Wineglass ...and that's being lenient.

Well, having sailed only one of those, and then for 30 minutes while teaching someone, maybe it could be said that it's a strange attitude to want to dump a bunch of boats that are creating a lot of enjoyment for people. What's their sin? The fact that they are slow? So who cares?

I find it interesting that when those boats came out, they were often treated with respect, because the sport  greeted beginners. What happened? The great dinghy boom. Will you get people into the sport again if you  refer to beginner-friendly  boats as "crap"...probably not.

So the boats are slow? What do you sail that's really quick? What mono today IS as fast as it could be? Maybe the Moth or AC/RS 700/MPS. The 49er is heavy (by traditional skiff standards), the current MBD League 18 foot skiffs are slower than the old B18 /GP 18s in everything over 5 knots and they carry tiny rigs and wings compared to the '80s and '90s boats. Yet they don't feel too bad do they? Surely speed is comparative.

It's interesting that while we all assume there are too many classes, it seems that the UK has more dinghy classes than any other country - and it doesn't exactly seem to hurt the number of dinghy sailors or their competitive success, does it!

Look at France, apparently the only dinghy classes of any size are the training and Olympic boats , so they have achieved concentration - yet they don't get really good fleets or do all that well in championships.

Look at the USA, every time a Yanks asks what boat he should sail, he gets told "doesn't matter what design, just go for the biggst class in your area". So they et concentration - yet they have a dwindling dinghy scene and are fading as an international force.

So, reluctantly, I've started to wonder whether the "we need less classes" idea is actually (despite the obvious logic) the wrong way to go.

God knows no-one needs the copycat Laser/Topper syndrome, or the many classes that are almost identical (like, I admit, some in your list). But having some diversity may be good.

Out here in Oz, we have had no significant new class  (apart  from the 29er and 49er which  have International backing) for  eons, because  everyone is so  concerned about sticking to the existing boats.

The formula idea could work well; could the Signet and Graduate perhaps combine into formula fs? (I dunno, I don't know much about them). They could race togehter for an overall prize and still have OD divisions - like the Hobie Tiger does in F 18s.

The Formula idea seems great to me. It would involve compromise, but the F 18 sailors are very happy.

Oh yeah, re the 39er - I dropped into the Bethwaite's a while ago and saw what Ian Bruce said to be Julian's new toy - a singlehander like a skinny Vortex. Last time I spoke to Julian about singlehanders he was interested in Moths and musing that the kite/trap/racks singlehanded skiff idea was not the way to go. Dunno what else is happening.