Mudman wrote:Thanks Steve,
Pleased to hear (in one way) that the chute problem isn't unique to me - it's a tough one to solve for those of us that sail on the choppy stuff. Short of having a chute the size of the front of the boat it seems that there's no easy way round it.
I also agree with you about the DC. There are some fantastic looking boats out there and the energy and invention that's going in to them is something to behold. I have considered building one, but in the end these factors weigh against it:
1. I don't really understand the marine architecture enough to come up with something that would be guaranteed to work (does anyone?)
2. What might work here wouldn't work on a lake.
3. It's a lot of money to spend on an experimental boat which almost certainly won't recoup its value should you need to sell it (if you can find someone that wants it).
4. I've got enough excuses as to why I can't go fast without adding the hull design to the list.
5. My IC/AC is quite hard enough to sail - I don't need to make it more difficult with a narrower, less stable (if I've read a lot of the reports correctly) hull.
6. Where I sail, we sometimes get 2 mile downwind legs - without a kite you're history in the light stuff against the tide and I don't believe (and I'll stand correction if someone can really demonstrate otherwise) that the lighter DC would show the performance gain to win against the B14s, 29ers, RS700s and others that make up most of my opposition over long legs like that (and it's very dull with no extra strings to pull!)
7. The big flappy thing at the front adds extra excitement, adrenaline, terror (for those nearby as well as me) and fun - making the boat the ultimate sailing challenge.
8. Would a lightweight Nethercot be any slower than the latest designs? In the hands of a skilled helm I suspect not....Perhaps you should leave the correctors out, Steve!!!
I don't want to ignite the DC/AC debate - I'm all for both. Just that there are good reasons why I'm sure many won't be jumping ship from 'old' to new.
Cheers,
David
Once again the DC's are no longer
I'll being heading down to McCrae in the near future and will be sailing against one/some of the best B14 sailors in the World so we will have a good idea of the performance difference between a new rules IC and a B14 as for the other classes 29ers I found are somewhat slower than a Nethercott anyway any slight advantage they have on a run is more than lost on the beat, RS never raced against one only seen a few at Hayling Island once many years ago, until I sail against one I'll reserve any comment.
New rules IC v's Nethercott = big difference, having built and sailed both the new boats are just so much faster and nicer to sail its almost beyond belief and are also cheaper to build as basically they are built from the same material but there is less of it.
As for knowing about how to design a hull its not a must there is heaps of info available world wide that you can get a great starting point to make some changes if you want. Im talking from experience here I know bugger all about hull design, I've learnt heaps since having a go at designing (well taking a proven design and adding some changes as I felt might be better) its a really rewarding challenge, the info I've had supplied world wide has been amazing and the replies to the cry's of "help" was even more amazing. So what Im saying is you can safely design and build a new rules IC that will be in the ball park without any previous experience, the info and help is freely available.
The new boats are a little harder to sail but not in anyway impossibly tippy like a sea hugging Moth. They are a little less forgiving than the nethercott in light gusty conditions resulting in a quicker dunking if you dont react fast enough but then you are free to make your design more forgiving if thats what you sail in all the time.
Lake v's Ocean well I'm not convienced on that agruement (oh dear about to get flamed here Im sure), I've sailed on both spend more time on a lake but still remain more than competitive on the deep dark blue stuff against the same boats, the critical factor is the idiot at the end of the tiller pointing the boat in the wrong direction more than the others (Im guilty you honor).
There are some good reasons why not to go down the AC path also,
1. Cost
2. W-L course = boring
3. Basically only a UK class with some Germans also having a play
4. Outside the Uk very little support (I was dropped like the peice of crap because I didn't race as an AC in 2005, not by all but by enough)
5. With W-L course the lightest helm with the biggest kite wins so its an expensive arms races with the big flappy thing at the front
6. During the pre-worlds in McCrae (one course, one start) the AC's really didn't perform
7. Too much extra crap needed on what should be a clean effecient design for only an increace in down wind performance, but a loss in upwind performance.
So I guess its each to their own, from my experience the help provided (not just offered) when I started designing and building my new IC was briliant and still is. The increase in performance in all aspects of sail is truely amazing the boats are so smooth to sail and in some ways easier/more forgiving that Im extremely glad I stuck with the IC's and cant wait till Germany 2011.
H.
xAC176
