International 14 Mailing List
FW: [I14] Observations on sailing at increased beam.

14

From: craig (craig@oceangraphics.com.au)
Date: Wed 31 Jul 2002 - 22:33:14 BST

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From: "Brad Devine" <bradwd@bigpond.com>
Date: Wed, 31 Jul 2002 19:02:08 +0800
To: "Paddy" <craig@oceangraphics.com.au>
Subject: Fw: Fw: [I14] Observations on sailing at increased beam.

<p> After reading all of the debate on the wider rack issue I feel I need to
 comment. I agree with a lot of the points that have been raised having made
my boat wider some 18 months ago for a 1 off race. We or should I say my
crew extended the width of the boat to 7` 6". This made the boat totally
different
 to sail.The boat was quite easy to sail, but I would not suggest that it
was
 any easier to sail than at 6ft. In 15-18kts of wind we had a distinct speed
 advantage over the rest of the fleet.Not only did we sail faster but higher
as
 well to the point of keeping up with the current 49er Aus Champ up
wind.With
 this set up we had a 65mm mast section with a 12.83 sqmt mainsail. This rig
 was very fast in all conditions with a combined crew weight of 165-170 kgs
(
 without the extra width ).The disturbing thing with the experiment was that
by
 going out wider with the racks it put a huge compression load on the mast
to
 the point where the windward shroud would go extremely loose. To stay at
this
 width we would have to go up in mast size.
 My conclusion to this development is that soon after we go out in width we
 will want to go up in mast length and sail area because the larger guys
will
 suffer in the 0 - 15knt range. I am only a small guy at 78kgs but feel that
 the width should stay the same.
 There is no doubt that with an endless supply of money we can make a 14ft
boat
 beat anything that floats but in ten years time if they are an extinct
vessel
 except for a few die hards there is no point to the development. The only
 ones that will get a benefit from it will be new classes that emerge using
 these developments! i.e.. 49er some years ago.
 I feel that the class needs some stability in its rules for a substantial
 period and stop trying to play Americas Cup with a bunch of weekend
yachties.
 Lets clean up the rules that we have and gain some stability so the rest
of
 the yachting world can see that they can sail these boats on a stable
 platform,

 Kind Regards Brad Devine

 Divine Madness....

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