The contention that changing from one sail maker to open sail makers will necessitate the need to measure the sails is interesting.
In light of the fact that EP N-20 spinakers have different lenghts (as much as 18") and that EP mains have as much as 6" delta in luff lengths, etc., shouldn't all sails be measured to assure everyone is on the same footing?
Is there a site or rule book that outlines the dimensions of the sails for the N-20 class? I know that most other one-design classes have a specific set of luff, leech, mid-girth, foot, sail area and other criteria. Without such a rule, how do we know if the sails are to spec?
A set of rules that states that simply that the sails must be made by a specific sailmaker leaves a lot to be desired. Perhaps, the fact that there might not be a specific set of dimensions is driven by the lack of consistantcy in the sailmakers sail sizes and cuts? Just wondering.
IMHO, all sails should be measured by an independent sail measurer to assure that everyone has the same size sails.
Those are interesting comments. Hobie had the same issue with the 18. In regards to sails the rule book only stated that a Hobie sail was a legal sail and all others were not. When I decided to seperate from the class rules I went searching for measurements to have a new sail made. Guess what, nobody could produce them. In fact when I called the factory the response I got was "if it is a Hobie sail then it is a legal sail". Now I am starting to wonder why this is such a closely gaurded seceret. I began measuring sails from other Hobie 18's on the beach. Out of the 10 sails I measured the luff was only the same length TWICE! The variance on my 10 test sails was five inches. For one design that is unacceptable. Makes it seem more like you are racing "Almost One Design".
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