Development = faster?

   Mr Javelin, I feel I have to correct you on some of your figures. The Merlin that I assume you are reffering to did not cost £20k and neither is it made of carbon. No Merlins are 100% made from carbon, only on the decks, bouyancy tank and thwart is carbon allowed to be used. The cost of the boats themselves have not increased, it is the introduction of higher technology and quality kit that goes on them such as carbon rig, carbon foils countless fittings and kevlar/mylar sails that push the perceived cost up. 
The advantage of this is that we are at a stage in the class where you can buy a 6 year old second hand plastic boat and have exactly the same boat speed as a brand new one. This has resulted in seriously close racing in the fleet where it is very difficult to split the top 20 sailors.
Finally in respect to our PY I do agree that it is currently loaded in our favour, however, we have recently introduced larger spinnys that have not yet generated a full years results for the RYA to use to readjust our yardstick, no doubt it will go down soon enough.

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Alex Send Private Message Find Member's Posts Newbie Joined: 17 Mar 04 Location: United Kingdom Online Status: Offline Posts: 6	Post Options Post Reply Quote Alex Report Post Quote Reply Topic: Development = faster? Posted: 01 Apr 04 at 10:30am
	Mr Javelin, I feel I have to correct you on some of your figures. The Merlin that I assume you are reffering to did not cost £20k and neither is it made of carbon. No Merlins are 100% made from carbon, only on the decks, bouyancy tank and thwart is carbon allowed to be used. The cost of the boats themselves have not increased, it is the introduction of higher technology and quality kit that goes on them such as carbon rig, carbon foils countless fittings and kevlar/mylar sails that push the perceived cost up. The advantage of this is that we are at a stage in the class where you can buy a 6 year old second hand plastic boat and have exactly the same boat speed as a brand new one. This has resulted in seriously close racing in the fleet where it is very difficult to split the top 20 sailors. Finally in respect to our PY I do agree that it is currently loaded in our favour, however, we have recently introduced larger spinnys that have not yet generated a full years results for the RYA to use to readjust our yardstick, no doubt it will go down soon enough.

Adoo Send Private Message Find Member's Posts Groupie Joined: 23 Mar 04 Location: United Kingdom Online Status: Offline Posts: 64	Post Options Post Reply Quote Adoo Report Post Quote Reply Posted: 01 Apr 04 at 9:40am
	Handicap of 1024??? Under what system? PY? Actually PY is not a handicap, its a yardstick - the difference is huge, I'm not being pedantic. Handicap involves measuring the boat and trying to figure our how fast it sails. Yardstick uses results from previous races, know performance against a set group of regularly sailed dinghys (yardsticks). This varies as boats become faster or slower relative to the other boats they race against. If the Merlin Rocket's performance has changed, and its PN (Portsmouth Number) has not changed over the last 5 years, it is for the following reasons; 1) There are not enough return forms being sent in from clubs where Merlin Rockets are being sailed, and / or 2) Not enough Merlin Rockets are being raced under PY. Javelin, talk to your sailing secretary - or whoever sets up the yardstick racing in your club. If you have a gripe, take it to them, they can use the system to give fair racing at your club, and when they return the data to the RYA, this will get noted into the database, and a national trend will occur, presumably resulting in the correct change in PN for the Merlin Rocket. But remember, the sailing sec needs to remain impartial. They cant give all the prizes to the person who buys them the most beer....
	Better to be overpowered in the gusts than underpowered in the lulls!

Javelin Send Private Message Find Member's Posts Visit Member's Homepage Newbie Joined: 01 Apr 04 Location: United Kingdom Online Status: Offline Posts: 18	Post Options Post Reply Quote Javelin Report Post Quote Reply Posted: 01 Apr 04 at 2:56am
	So tell me, over the last five or six years the Merlin Rocket has seen the addition of Mylar sails, Carbon masts, Mylar foredecks and even a carbon boat costing over Â£20k plus god knows how many other developments and how much faster is the Merlin? Well according to the handicap, itâ€™s made no difference at all. In 1999 the handicap was 1024 and guess what, it still is. There just has to be some money changing hands somewhereâ€¦..