Currently the rule on minimum overall weight is worded as :



The minimum weight of the boat ready to sail, excluding non permanently fixed wings, is fixed at :



1-up (cat rigged with genaker gear) : 95,0 kg.

2-up (sloop rigged with genaker gear) : 100,0 kg.



(just to illustrate: 95 kgs = 210 pounds, 100 kgs = about 221 pounds)





Proposal # 1 : is to raise the minimum weight of the doublehanded F16 boat to 105 kg's.



Proposal # 2 : is to raise the minimum weight of the singlehanded boat to 102 kg's. Or better put, place the singlehander at 3 kg's less than the doublehander instead of the 5 kg's ued now.





The proposed new rule when combining both proposals is :



The minimum weight of the boat ready to sail, excluding non permanently fixed wings, is fixed at :



1-up (cat rigged with genaker gear) : 102,0 kg.

2-up (sloop rigged with genaker gear) : 105,0 kg.



(just to illustrate: 102 kgs = 227 pounds, 105 kgs = about 232 pounds)





The reasons for this proposal (coming from multiple parties) :



Proposal -1-



-1- The minimum weight of 100 kg's overall is attainable but at a price. Builders have expressed that this price may well be in conflict with the F16 class goal of offering affordable High Performance boats. The extra 5 kg doesn't affact performance much but does add a considerable amount of cost. The last is mainly caused by the fact that builders must use carbon poles and booms as well as super light boards, rudders and stocks to get down that low. Most have indicated that they don't want to shave of the 5 kg's off the hulls to keep the platform strong and stiff. The cheaper alu parts are also simplier (and cheaper) for the boat owner to replace himself or repair himself.



-2- The sailors of the grandfathered boats including spinnaker gear will be withing 1 or 2 kg's of the 105 kg's minimum overall weight. With a (heavier) snuffer system and carbon mast they will be right on the 105 kg's mark. The owners of these boats who have been very supportive in the early stages will be garanteed that they will stay competitive with the newly designed boats. This is of particular importance to the Taipan 4.9 spi sailors.



-3- The crews racing under the ISAF handicap system no longer require to carry corrector weights to be rated equally to the F18 class rating.



-4- the calculated performance loss is only 0,65 * 36 secs = 23 seconds per hour = less than 1 %. The savings in costs could be in the order of 1000,- USD or Euros = about 10 %



-5- The end result will be a F16 platform that is both cheaper and more robust and that can realistically be build by homebuilders from simple materials (no oven to cook carbon etc)





Proposal -2-



-1- The main idea behind the 1-up / 2-up F16 class is that a 2-up F16 can easily be converted to a competitive 1-up platform by taking the jib and jib blocks off and some stuff like the second trapeze wires. According to builders and people in the know the leaving off of these things will only account for some 2 kg's and not the 5 kg's that was assumed in the current rules. The gap of 5 kg's would allow the creation of specialized 1-up platforms that could never be converted back to the 2-up setup. This could cause inequality within the 1-up class. 3 kg's (a safety margin of 1 kg) was proposed as a much more fair reduction in weight.



-2- The lighest 1-up with spi currently is the Taipan 4.9 with spi. The spi gear was earlier determined to be around 5 kg's with relatively simple, robust and inexpensive materials. The Taipan catrigged has a minimum class weight of 97 kg's ; when the spi is added it will come out at exactly of the new minimum overall 1-up weight of 102 kg's.



-3-When the newer designs take of teh 2 kg's jib gear and related stuff they will come out at 103 kg's which is well within the fair range of truelly competiveness weights when the minimum is set at 102 kg's.



Your reactions please; both when in support or against this proposal