International 14 Mailing List
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From: Gregory J. Mitchell (grmitche@cisco.com)
Date: Fri 30 Jul 1999 - 17:46:40 BST
Maybe a bit naive - but probably only a bit, and a right good question.
As a dev'l class - if we tossed out the restrictions all at once - we might immediately obsolete a couple million dollars of boats, masts and sails - destroy our builders investment in molds and the like, and kill the class.
However, every rule we have should support and enhance the goals of the class. As such - they may be complicated occasionally, but simplicity may also be appropriate.
The first task of any rules review committee should be to determine a loose consensus of what the 14 fleet wants in terms of boats - and then hit the rules.
Here are some design characteristics that owners have expressed in the past which reflects my own particular biases and selective memory - by no means complete or even a consensus:
Fastest 14' monohull around, exhilarating sailing
All around ability - sail in 3 knots and 30 knots
Boat should be builadable by amateurs, and should be strong for a long expected life
"Reasonable" cost - which we never define!
Ongoing development - that allows boats an expected Worlds level competitive life, followed by Nationals/club/training
Keep the boat in the forefront of small boat sailing
Allows manufacturers to receive a reasonable return on investment
Should be sailable by a majority of sailors IF they get out on the water and practice hard. New sailors should expect to get wet, tired and bruised, but should be able to see continued improvement - and join the better ranks after a couple of seasons.
Rules should be clear enough to allow debate free measuring
Greg
At 11:53 AM 07/30/1999 +0100, you wrote:
>What about complete simplification?
>
>The boat is
> no more than 14 ft long
> no wider than ......x
> weighs at least x kg
> the rig is no taller than x...from hull floor to tip
> any stern rack extends no further than the end of
>the rudder gantry...or whatever the consensus
>might be
>
>Do we really need all of these rise of floor rules, no convex jib leachs
>etc?? Is this naive??
>
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