Listen here, you ignorant fool.

Among other certifications, I actually hold a Bachelor of Science degree (BSc) in Maritime Engineering. There is nothing that these "succesful boat designers" can do that I can't do. It will only take me more time to do it.

The subject of my Master of Science speciality is also alot more complex then anything related to boat design. Lets be honest here. Basic (sail)boat design is NOT a difficult field of engineering.

But of course, it is alot smarter to use the efforts of all volunteers in the field they are best at. That will also free others like myself up for other tasks. That is just plain smart project organising.

I don't know about the other designers and what "they obviously don't wish to share with me", but that is pretty irrelevant anyway. The only result they achieve by that is that it will take me a little longer to get the job done anyway. Like I said earlier, there is nothing engineering wise that they can do that I can't.

In addition to that I started sailing at 12 years of age and started out on monohulls. In the 23 years since then I sailed/raced/DIY-ed pretty much everything. Dinghies, small cruising mono's, sailboards, catamarans, skiffs, landyachts, a big cruising cat and even a bloody three-master tall ship. The latter being week long trip from NL to Portsmouth UK and Cherbourg France as part of the sailing crew.

I actually dare venture that my practical experience relating to a design like the F12 is something that may exceed that of the others.

I don't just write posts about the push-rod setup, I actually worked-up experience with setups like that while landyachting. I don't just muse on the possibilty of using old windsurfer masts for the F12, I actually have experience with the problems one will encounter with that (still have 7 masts in my shed left over from that). I have designed items like custom alu beams for high performance beach catamarans in the past (in actual use now). Back in the 90's, I have made a bulk head design for a bulk carrier, had to make the bloody technical drawing for it as well, using a Sun station CAD program called Medusa. Did finite element ANSYS analysis on various components. The list can go on.

And to top it off I have actually created a new internal catamaran class succesfully, how many people can say that ?

So don't start on questioning my sailing experience and boat designing skills here. Because you have absolutely no idea of what I have done and are capable off.


And what is up with you Aussies anyway ? During the F16 start-up, you guys (except Phill) were a bloody pain in the neck then as well.


Wouter