I would like to add the following items to the ballot / agenda
1, To ban the use of runnders that allow the "end tab" or "wings" trim to be altered while they remain in the "fully down" position.
This proposal is not to ban kick up rudders, but to ban variable trim T foil rudders. I believe that if we allow these type of T foil rudders we will instantly make all F16's currently sailing obsolete.
The reason I believe that these rudders would be so beneficial to performance are thus:
A, When sailing up wind it will be possible to trim the windward rudder to add righting moment by trimming the "end fin" so that the leaning edge is below the trailing edge and so the rudder will pull the windward hull down; By trimming the leeward rudder opposite i.e. with leading edge above the trailing edge on the fin you can create lift on the leeward hull. This will result in an appreciable addition in righting moment and thus speed.
B, when sailing down wind it will be possible to trim the rudders for the conditions - unlike the current T foils that can only be set once (for the day in theory by adding packers at the top or bottom of the rudders, but in practice only for trim of the boat as in order to change the trim of the end plates, you have to move the whole trim of the rudder). So in light winds the rudder fins would be trimmed flat so that no extra drag was given (over and above the actual drag of the T foil surfaces). When it is windy, the rudders can be trimmed to provide the right amount of "drag or pull" to hold the aft end of the boat flat. I could see that the primary trim for the hemlsman down wind COULD become the rudder fins if we allowed variable trim rudders.
You could then argue that we are a development class and as such should allow these are they are a development that boosts performance, however, I did some work on these before I got John to build my boat and they WOULD have made it much faster, but much more complex and expensive - I have ball park figures of 3000GBP for a working system based on the international Moth systems but with independant trim for each rudder (Moths only have one rudder).
I also believe that varible trim rudders will be difficult to build and thus make home build more difficult.
In summary I believe that variable trim rudders offer a large performance gain (at considerable cost) and so should be banned. If we do not ban them, the first boat to have them will make all current F16's obsolete.
Please can all people comment on this as I feel that it is critical that it is voted on as part of the 2007 ballot and banned at once.
2, Mast tip weight rule
I propose that the mast tip weight rule be removed from the class rules.
My reason for this is that it is already possible to build masts well below the tip weight rule, and this is limiting the minimum single handed crew weight as we have a class rule that states that the crew MUST be able to right the boat in all conditions - thus we have in effect put a minimum weight on a single hander because the mast tip weight rule directly controls the minum weight that can right the boat. I feel this is not a sensible control to have. We are basically saying that single handed sailors under a certain weight are not welcome in out freindly and growing class. I do not believe this is an appropiate rule to have.
2.1 I propose to simply remove the tip weight rule form the class rules, if people feel that this will be too much change too quickly and that mast designers need time to accomodate the rule change I would offer a second proposal thus:
2.2 I propose to reduce the tip weight by 1kg for the 2007 season (after the vote result) and then by a further 1kg the following year (2008) and then remove the tip weight rule from the class rules.
Please also comment on this too.
Cheers
Simon
