David Henshall's article

Dougal, I'm really, really sorry, but I really can't find anything to disagree with fundamentally on your handicapping article. Good to fill in the gaps concerning the history of the system, and good to hear your views on what we should be looking at for the future.

There seems to be a very significant section of the english sailing public that likes a boat that is basically a collection of expensive anachronisms

Originally posted by PeterG So why isn't everyone happy? And it's nearly Christmas too!</span></span>

Nothing wrong with old fashioned anachronistic boats, grief I"m currently doing a rebuild on a pre wings Int Moth. But it can get a bit tedious for people who sail genuinely innovative boats if said antiques portray themselves as leading edge.

Edited by JimC - 25 Dec 14 at 1:30am

Originally posted by iGRF Pretty much my point, what's radical in constraining yourself within the bounds of a clinker built hull and wasting all that effort to make it fractionally faster and with all due respect Jim, much as I admire the Cherubim, another couple of feet on the hull length or the ability to use tail foils would stop all that bucking and tail walking. What's needed to be truly radical is a less narrow set of rules, but then again I guess all you'd then end up with is an AC style weapons race. So as well intentioned an articles as it was, there's nothing I would call radical, but then again my view of radical tends to differ from most.

But we're no so radical as to consider cats or boards?
Both of which are a bit poor on inland rivers.

It's easy to have an opinion that 'boat x' is a better boat than 'boat y', but being a better boat is not the same thing as being a class that will provide good racing in an enduring class.

Rather than knocking the flaws of 'dated' classes, we need to understand wtf has made them endure. You don't get a class with wide appeal by pandering to great sailors or techno-freaks, you need to attract and retain good-ordinary club sailors to get critical mass.

It also helps to view classes as a package.
This is the boat.
This is the secondhand market
This is the calendar
These are the people.

Look at the whole deal. I buy a boat, Do a few opens, some coaching if it's on offer.
Where are the nationals?
Any european gigs?


Take away the constraints of 'un radical old boats' and what do you end up with?
Cats, 18ft skiffs, foiling moths.
But many of us sail in places where they don't always work, or frankly we don't have the skills to sail them effectively (in the last two categories).

Also a 'free' rule set would produce boats set to win championships, which might actually be slower in everyday racing. E.g. you could make an RS400 faster on a w/l course by making the kite bigger, but you'd suffer on a 'pointless harbour tour'. Championships are more often sailed in big places in more wind, wednesday night series are won in F2.

Another thing is, if we are going to look down our noses at any class where most people can only afford one new boat in ten years or need 75% residual value to trade up every 3 years, it's going to exclude most people under the age of 35 who don't have inherited wealth.
Sailing is mostly a participation sport, there are dangers in worrying too much about olympic medals and AC on TV.