Colin et al
the wording of rule 9 b states " If the hull is found to be underweight,
lead correctors shall be added. No other inside ballast shall be carried."

One assumes that the state of the hull being "found" refers to when it is
first presented to the measurer. Consequently if the boat is found to be on
weight then the rule allows for the possibility of two types of lead
correctors, those that are official and those that form part of the original
mass of the hull.

Alternately it could be argued that the moveable ballast in the Mk12 is
"other" ballast if it is added before the first measurement and therefore
prohibited as it is "inside", and by inference only correctors are allowed
to
be inside ballast. If it was fitted outside the hull sealed space
pressumably it would
still be legal ballast or correctors. "Inside" in this interpretation would
mean within the confines of the sealed hull space.

One means around this dilemma is to say that the moveable ballast is not
part
of the hull as it is:

- not an essential fitting ("permanently bolted, glued or screwed to the
hull" i.e. fixed in one place using one of the methods described),

- not correctors as it is fitted prior to the first measurement,

- not part of the buoyancy apparatus and

- not part of the "spinnaker boom and controls directly connected for the
purposes of launching or retraction of the spinnaker boom"
As such it is not part of the hull and therefore is not allowed. If it was
a corrector or fixed ballast it could be argued that it is an essential
fitting
and therefore ok.

Essentially the class needs to decide what we want it to mean. I think the
ability to move the ballast or correctors adds so little value to the
sailing experience or skills of the sailing fraternity that it is an
unnecessary complication that is contrary to the admirable steps that RMW
marine have made towards making the boats simpler/ cheaper and more
accessible.

Andrew Perry

-------Original Message-------

From: Colin R Smith

Date: 19/03/2004 2:02:11 AM

To: Dave Spragg

Cc: Andy Loukes; 14list@i14.org

Subject: Re: [i14] Moveable ballast

Er, hang on a minute, are you arguing you can chop out chunky bits of your
boat

and then simply self-certify that the weight's still OK? Surely that's what

measurers are for? :-)

Don't think it matters if they're "official correctors" or not, if the
weight's

changed materially, surely the boat should be re-weighed?

Cheers

Colin

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Received on Fri Mar 19 13:18:54 2004