Open Bic

It is now being made in grp in one form or other, a material that does not really work for large slab sided shapes unless some sort of foam core sandwich is employed but then you are just using an expensive technique on a shape that is that way because it was meant to be cheap. Not very logical is it?

The Bic uses modern materials in an efficient way to produce a modern shape. Seems logical to me.

Sounds like the only argument for Oppies is there's a lot of them out there, that of course is a valid argument but how long can it be used?

And yes the tipsiness thing, that square flat shape may be initially stable but it is not as nicely progressive into dynamic stability when heeled as a rounder shape with a bit of chine.

I say give youngsters some respect, they do know good design from poor. I mean most of them probably know the finer points of an iPad vs a Samsung for goodness sake.

 

There's at least as much progress in sailing as in boom sports like cycling or a very strong sport like golf, overall. And where is the evidence that technological progress in sports like football or cricket is faster than technological progress in sailing? Take a '70s Laser, Opti, Merlin, Mirror or Finn and compare it to the same boat or class in 2013 - there's normally been a vast improvement in blocks, sails, lines, wetsuits, hiking pants, boots, gloves and other stuff you can stick on even an old hull. I wouldn't be at all surprised is there had been about as much development in something like Lasers as there has been in cycling, for instance. The difference is that in some dinghies you are just renovating the existing hull rather than buying all new kit.

 

The fascinating thing is that in sailing the booming classes are normally the low-tech ones and the ones with fewer technological advances. It's not the Laser, X Boat and Opti that are fading, it's the faster boats like Ospreys, Hornets, 505s, Melges, L5000 etc and the development classes. Those of us who track the numbers seem pretty convinced that there is a shift AWAY from fast boats and the development classes that are "enjoying" technological progress. The interesting thing is that the shift has been so big and so long term that many people don't realise how much smaller they are today, as a section of the market, than they were decades ago when boats like the 5-0, Merlin and 'Ball were in the top few classes in the country in terms of national turnouts. 

 

The stats I'm working on seem pretty clear - the drop-off in numbers at national title level is mainly caused by the fall in performance ODs and development classes and in slow "family" boats at the other extreme. The Laser/Opti etc are not the culprits, they are the survivors to emulate.

 

If sailors want high tech then wouldn't the Melges 24, Moth, 12 foot Skiff, Formula Windsurfers and F16 cat be among the most popular classes in the country instead of dead or stagnant (with the exception of the Moth which did benefit from investors losing millions in a massive marketing campaign)?

 

If people want high tech then wouldn't unlimited air racing, hydroplanes, streamlined recumbent bicycles, rocket cars and kits that could turn swimmers into human torpedoes be the most popular bits of sporting kit? Instead swimming (most popular participant sport in the UK according to Sport England) has turned its back on technology and banned the speed suits. Cycling and gold (4th and 5th most popular, behind athletics and football) both state specifically in their rules that technology is limited so that weekend warriors can use the same gear as the legends.

 

Personally I'm a fan of the way the Bics run races and the concept in general although with some reservations about the hull. Optis are a new class 'round here and yet the kids love them. The Tera, meanwhile, seems to be a brilliant boat from the pics.