Berny,

I don't really mind when someone blows off steams and gives me verbal beating on the forum. I just hit back and that is it. I won't loose any sleep over it.

I think you are indeed right about lack of real organisation among catsailors and the classes. No argument there. I'm so sure if we are actively campaigning against eachother, if anything that is accidental when it happens.

I believe the F12 will be more succesful then the F14 IF the F12 project is succesful at staying with the design goals as stated in Januari 2007. If we try to make it a wide open formula class then I'm convinced it will fail to. Basically what we need is a small inexpensive and easily build/rigged craft like the laser dinghy that is part of a OD class structure (NOT SMOD) where less important parts can be changed at will. The F14 class was indeed a formula class with wide open class rules and it was neither inexpensive enough nor easily build. The F12 has a whole game plan next to the design itself (in promo, production and reinvestments into the class). The F14 in all honesty didn't. Actually several design choices are made to improve aspects of the class that are not directly related to performance or the design itself. The choice for the slightly less performaning unstayed rig with a mast made from standardized alu tubing is a direct results of the decision to lower production costs and improve availability in much poorer area's of the world. The beams are actually the same section as the bottom of the mast. And there are several other points like this as well. As such it is fundamentally different from the F14 and most other 12 to 14 foot cats out there like the Hobie Wave. Basically, the F12 (as designed by my right now) can be complete build using standardized parts there are no catamaran specific basic parts used like extruded mastsections.

As a result my design can now be made for less then 2500 Euro's when commercially buying your mast, sail and rudders. When you make these then less then 1500 can be achieved. The design goal was less then 3000 Euro's. When sourcing components locally in say the US it is now possible to build for less then 3000 USD.

As such this design is significantly cheaper to build then as good as all other sail boats out there except the Optimist. It will however out perform nearly all of these with the exception of the Hobie 14 and F14. So the F12 is much simpler to build, very inexpensive and still acceptably performant. As such it is totally different from the F14, which is not easy to build (carbon mast and beams, spinnaker), nor inexpensive (9000 USD) but much more performant. The F12 is also rigged muhc quicker.

I feel that the F12 as described about strikes a much better balance between performance and associated costs. I also believe that the F14 is far more aimed at a different market segment.


Now can we get back to the Tornado being kicked from the Olympics ?

Wouter