view on topaz?

Originally posted by Phil eltringham Enough with the new boats, lets just fix the mistakes with the ones we have and start enjoying them!

Ah well, there we go with the downside of the Single Manufacturer one design bit. Everything ios a compromise, there's a downside to everything, right?

In the case of SMODs, unlike a 505s Enterprises, Scorpions, Cherubs or whatever, if a new bulder wants to get into building a SMOD class they have to found a new one. They can't get into building an existing SMOD because a) the current builder owns all the design and copyrights etc and b) having two builders would mean that people would assume one builders bat was faster then the other builders, and they'd lose the any boat is good enough thing.

And then its a considerable challenge to fix mistakes (especially what looks like a mistake now but wasn't when it was designed) with SMOds, because as soon as you fix something again you've lost the one design bit. Bethwaite's managed to do it with the 49er masts, but it can cause considerable organisational/political problems for other classes... Don't, for instance, go to a Tasar Championship and say what a good idea it would be to have a Tasar mk 2!!

This isn't to knock the SMOD thing, which has its place just as much as the Development Class or the multi supplier One Design concepts do, just to note what one of the downsides is.

If you think about it, its just like the car industry, every major manufacturer makes their small hatch backs, their family saloons etc etc, and every few years its replaced by a new model... You can't imagine Fiat not bringing out a new hatchback if Ford has grabbed the market with a smart new model.