Published Hull Weights

Originally posted by jeffers Originally posted by MrGin   Carbon masts, 3 times the price of Aluminium masts, which the leads to everyone having to but new masts. I see they are know allowed on the Blaze. I am sure Blaze720 (aka the Blaze builder and all round good fellow) will comment. I believe they have chosen a specific carbon section so the bend charactieristics are the same as the current Ally stick (they would need to be or the sail won;t work as well).  So the only real advantage will be weight high up (unless they have agreed that the tip weight must stay the same). The Blaze is a class that manages incremental changes very well (in my experience) and older Mk1 boats are still very competitive if they have all the latest tweaks on them.

Originally posted by MrGin One thing the Albacore Class has being trying to avoid is the Phantom / Fireball situation so that older boats are not out classed. That is why you are not allowed carbon in or near the boat (except for small fittings).   Enterprise Carbon flyaway pole £100, Aluminium £10.   Allowing Carbon rudder stocks and foils, proably a little lighter but more expensive, this would start check book sailing.   Carbon masts, 3 times the price of Aluminium masts, which the leads to everyone having to but new masts. I see they are know allowed on the Blaze.   Laminated (non white) sails, again pushes out the non check book sailors.   New boats are about £1k cheaper the a GP14, that's a lot of boat for your money!

Unfortunately the cost delta between carbon and aluminium is largely down to the retailers cashing in on what we all now perceive as necessary hi-tech. A 2m 25mm dia carbon pole for an Enterprise can be sourced or made for as little as £20 and yet the chandelries ask for £100. The mark up on Ali tube is knowhere near as extreme.

Edited by craiggo - 03 May 13 at 3:59pm

Carbon masts are not easy to introduce into a fleet, but when a new ali one is more than half the price of a carbon one, there is a lot of sense in it.
Carbon masts can at least be mended.
Also owners of existing boats can upgrade (perhaps if they break the ali mast), but you can't upgrade the lightness of your hull.
If the carbon mast keeps new boats selling that's good for everyone in the class in the long term.
In the medium term, it doesn't affect those that PY race against other classes, and you can always do what the B14's do, which is at least give the best 'tin rig' a mention in the write up.

'Updating' a class is hard to get right in my view.
It looks to me like the FRP Solo has really helped the class. Other classes you feel that meddling isn't going to help....
I haven't heard any laser sailors moan about having to buy XD kit to be competitive.

As someone who sails a cheap old boat, I don't worry that it costs me a place here and there. It's near enough the pace to have fun, and it's me and the crew holding it back 99% of the time.
If I wanted that extra %, I 'd have to spend a lot more and have everything just so.
Plus ca change and all that...

 older plastic phantoms as well as the newer ones have all been made from the same basic mould (and only one of them at that), though I believe that the ovi ones have a couple changes at the transom, the shape is still the same everywhere else. As for exploiting the rules wi regard weight, nope, the rule has always been there regarding weight at a min of 61kg with a max of 3kg of weight. The difference with the epoxy boats is that they can now be built to these rules. There is no bending of the tolerances.

Edited by maxibuddah - 03 May 13 at 6:48pm

The Blaze CA voted at the last AGM for carbon masts to be offered as a option - by an overwhelming majority....  However it was for a one design mast that has been specifically developed for the class to work effectively with the standard North Mainsail.    If you keep everything standard and don't chase 'low weight at any cost' route and go for a regular round section you end up with a cost effective and durable carbon mast that, as has been mentioned already, be repaired rather than written off when damaged.

Some of us would have liked a carbon stick years ago but are now very glad the class waited  and made sensible decisions on the concept with the benefit of 'extra time'.  (We learn from the ... er 'issues' seen in other classes).   Sure it is always going to be a tough decision but the Blaze was possibly the last ('performance') singlehander to be launched with an alloy mast as standard in 1996.   A couple of years later and it would probably have had one from day 1.

We have had carbon booms since 2001 .. and like them this mast makes the boat more enjoyable to sail.   My own view is that the front of the fleet were already getting top performance out of the M7 and so will get the least gain from this mast option.  The back of the fleet will gain the most as it is more forgiving for sure and they will be able to press on in conditons they found more than tough previously ... and the middle of the fleet will find it easier to press the front guys now.  

Evolution in any 'one-design' class can be tricky - don't evolve and the odds on surviving many decades are pretty low ..  do it too quickly and you can lose the 'silent majority' already in the class. 

It will not transform the low wind performance as the boat is not optimised for that anyway - but it may mean more can storm around in more typical 'Blaze conditions' - staying out when many will be proping up the bar and grumbling about the excess of breeze ! 

Mike L.

PS - We do think GRF might just like it ... with or without spinnaker !  



Edited by blaze720 - 03 May 13 at 7:17pm