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Chris 249 View Drop Down
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Posts: 2041 		Post Options Post Options   Quote Chris 249 Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Topic: Expensive Sports...
    Posted: 29 Sep 16 at 8:56am
One of the most successful classes on earth uses the "composite" system.....or perhaps we should call it the "Formula class" concept, since it came from F18s. In terms of boats built and racing worldwide, the F18 class seems to be arguably the #1 in the world, outside the "squad" classes.

I've liked the concept for years and now we've bought into it,although I've only raced in the class for one regatta as a crew. You can still get SMOD racing and you get the big fleets of the Formula classes, plus for those of us who bought an earlier SMOD there's an "old boat" class. 

Given the success of the F18s, it seems a good model.
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The history and design of the racing dinghy.
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turnturtle View Drop Down
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Posts: 2538 		Post Options Post Options   Quote turnturtle Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 29 Sep 16 at 9:10am
Chris - do you notice a different mindset in multihull sailors though?  Generally speaking, I've always found them much more inclusive and less parochial than their monohull brethren 
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Chris 249 View Drop Down
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Posts: 2041 		Post Options Post Options   Quote Chris 249 Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 29 Sep 16 at 9:19am
/\

Not down here! Or, at least not between classes that compete for anything like the same demographic. Put it this way - the last article two articles I wrote professionally were about cats. One was about the second most popular crewed cat down here (which is sort of like a Zero). The manufacturer of the #1 crewed cat (sort of like a Laser) withdrew their entire year's advertising from the mag that published it (and they used to buy the most expensive page in the whole mag every month) although they admitted to me that there was not a single point in the article that wasn't objective and accurate.....they just didn't want any publicity for a competitor.

The irony was that the last article I wrote was about the Formula system, and the same manufacturer claimed that it was an example that showed that cat sailors had seen the light and were now cooperating to promote the discipline. Down here we've even had all the small-cat sailors boycott the #1 cat regatta because they felt they were marginalised by organisers who were only interested in big cats. I know in the USA there have been major issues between classes, even at the dawn of cat sailing.

As someone who has sailed just about every discipline bar kiting, I find the least parochial "discipline" to be the biggest OD dinghies.....they are so big they have no need or reason to biatch about anyone else. Just IMHO. 


Edited by Chris 249 - 29 Sep 16 at 9:46pm
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turnturtle View Drop Down
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Posts: 2538 		Post Options Post Options   Quote turnturtle Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 29 Sep 16 at 9:56am
ha ha - admittedly I've only scratched the surface of the UK cat scene as an option a few years back now- they all seemed refreshingly complimentary about each other and general consensus was SCHRS caused less 'politics' than PY.  (They would say that wouldn't they perhaps?!?) 

Anyway, it was a positive experience, even if ultimately I didn't bite the apple.  
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RS400atC View Drop Down
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Posts: 3011 		Post Options Post Options   Quote RS400atC Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 29 Sep 16 at 2:13pm
Originally posted by turnturtle

ha ha - admittedly I've only scratched the surface of the UK cat scene as an option a few years back now- they all seemed refreshingly complimentary about each other and general consensus was SCHRS caused less 'politics' than PY.  (They would say that wouldn't they perhaps?!?) 

Anyway, it was a positive experience, even if ultimately I didn't bite the apple.  

I think cat sailors are like that when talking to outsiders, in the way that an motorcyclist will tell you that any bike is better than a car. But among themselves class/brand rivalries are similar. Some people of course sail  in more than one 'discipline', and many sail in more than one class.
There seem to be zillions of cat 'classes' more like each builder churning out a new range every year, so they are even more stuck with handicap than we are.
But they have more/better high profile handicap events? Piers race, Texel....?

I've always found dabbling in an different sort of racing a positive experience, whether it's cross channel in cruisers or around the cans in historic dayboats.
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