I think it is time I chimed in on this because I have a lot of "t-shirts" on these uni issues.

Fairness: Once the wind goes over 6kts, the 2-up config has the advantage. 6kts and below they are even with a slight advantage to the uni.

Weed Control: Advantage is huge for the 2-up.

I see it is finally being hashed out on the possibility of a uni-only class breakout. It is not defeat but a full realization of what is the reality of the situation. By offering 2 classes competing against like setups, IMO, you may increase attendance. If the crew situation flopped, you still can race with the other uni boats. I would not like going to a regatta as a uni knowing I will not trophy. By separating, sailors looking for a new class (like me!) will see the F16 class as a more viable option. Again, that is just my opinion. Like Wayne said, kudos to the original group.

Bob

Nope. We don't have enough Uni's over here to have a consistant showing at anything other than a Major regatta, ie. Nationals or Tradewinds. We set the rule "Uni/Sloop race as equal" for Flexablitly. I don't want to change that. There are some times I have crew, sometimes I don't. But if I ALWAYS have to have crew to race in the F16 class, I'll sell it and get an A cat, and leave my kids at home alone...on Facebook.

We are already "Harmonized" with the F18's, not that that is an issue. At Tradewinds last January they very successfully used the F16's for the Junior Olympic gig. I was there, I don't think there was anyone racing Uni, but nobody was bitching about it either.

I do not want to lose the flexability of being able to race Uni in a mostly Sloop fleet. If we have about 10+ Uni's show up, we could as a group, discuss it and have a vote, decided if we want a separate start, and see if the RC will give it to us, or just race with the sloops and give out our own Top Uni prize, ie. a bottle of something tasty.

The Uni Only thing has only worked in the A cats and Waves, and never caught on with the Nacra F17. I think the lack of flexability to run either Uni or Sloop, is what killed it. What made the F16 class grow rapidly is the FLEXABILITY to run in either configuration. Right now, there is no outcry from any Uni guys, and I'm one of them, to "Fix" anything.

It's NOT broke!

Leave it alone.

No matter how smart you rig your boat, I dont think there are any technical ways to offset the uni disadvantage.

Some things that might work IMHO:
-Select major venues based on light winds.
-Excempt uni sailors from paying entry fees.
-Have a separate trophy for uni's.
-Reduce the number of laps to two per race, but maybe have longer legs
-Let uni's start 5 min earlier.
-Find crew
-Practice
-Practice some more
-Buy an A-cat

OR...let the Uni's run their Jibs if they want to.

And for Bob Curry, buy an F16 and increase our Uni Racer numbers. We need to get 'critical Uni mass' to get a separate start.

But, I would prefer to have a Sloop/Uni combined start, then hand out separate trophys for Uni's.

Yes.

The local club races can still be done level if they want but the reality is these are 2 separate classes.

I understand how any discussion on change is a very tender subject. There is both an emotional and real investment in money and time here so I am trying to be respectful on this topic.


Wayne mentioned a reduced size blade jib for uni sailors. This will make tacks a bit easier for uni sailors. Perhaps also help with speed upwind but add complexity. It will not help with mark roundings but perhaps allow uni sailplans to be more equal with two up when the wind increases becouse of lower point of effort?


Tony, I can not wait to get on the water and train hard again

I think the poll is pretty now established where the final outcome will be, that as things stand, the Uni's are disadvantaged contrary to F16 class rules and the likes of SCHRS handicaps.

Now human nature being what it is, we all want to win, whether we admit to that or not, after all we are attending a competition and being a competition, we really want to win if we can.

Is the F16 ideal " broke " I don't think so, the whole concept of the class still stands, that of putting solo against dual, that of being a class for lighter weight all up crew weights. Its not the concept giving problems, its the modern day interpretation.

When the class was established a 5 metre length of boat would only have x speed, constrained by water length and RM dipping the hulls causing water drag. Hence the original calculations predicting that by simply dropping the jib would equalise the additional weight of the crew.

12 years on sail technology and hull design has changed those parameters and the original calculations are no longer valid. Perhaps Wouter should have a rerun on the calculator with what we know today and give us some views

I'd definitely like to see Bob Curry on a F16. Top ranked sailors are one thing the Unis have always been short of.

I am interested in the F16 class for just that very flexibility we are discussing. I can show to an event (local, regional, etc) and sail if I want to under either configuration.

Only have one day and no crew for a sail? I'll be sailing

Light air or crew plans fell through? I'll be sailing

Medium air with or without crew? I'll be sailing

Heavy air & crew available (either planned crew or pick up another uni skipper)? I'm sailing

Sure, if it's a big event (nationals, etc) I'd plan ahead and train up with crew for a 2-up showing, but anything else (besides a distance race where 2-up increases safety factor) I have flexibility to get out and SAIL, which will almost always improve my skillset even if I don't walk out with a pickle dish (I prefer brag flags, but whatever)

And Tim - the concept of an "in-house recognition" of the fastest uni sailor in a combined fleet makes more sense than trying to put a sub-handicap system in place. Don't give the RC/PRO any more work than absolutely necessary...

Well that's exactly why I got into the F16 class in the first place Jay, and I don't see a problem so...

Exactly what are we trying to "Fix" anyway?

Maybe all we really need to do is to add 3 trophies at major regattas, for the top 3 Uni's?

Simple enough? There! Problem Fixed.

Now, can we talk about adding wing masts and foiling L boards please??

;^)

(that's a joke, just in case anyone thought I was serious)

I thought your rum solution was spot on.

Timbo, you may not be too worried that you won't win at a competition, but I can assure you there are plenty who would be.

Let me ask a basic question to you, if you were in front by 50 yards of the fleet at the first mark, would you try and prevent the other 20 duals from passing you on the next leg ?

Of course I would, but if we were racing in two different fleets, ie. a Sloop fleet and a Uni fleet, and I'm Uni, and they are sloops, I wouldn't get too upset about it.

Here's a better example:

I'm in first place at A mark, I hold a small lead downwind, but then at the C gate, there are 4 of us coming in fast, me and 3 sloops all closing in on each other. But while I'm snuffing and downhauling and mast rotating, and putting the boards down and...oh yeah, steering and trimming and trapping, they all pass me.

Now I have to chase them upwind, maybe I get a lucky shift, catch a couple, hold my place downwind, and at the gate the same thing happens again, getting passed by the guys who have a crew to snuff.

I usually lose boats at the snuff.

And that is exactly my point, if the solos are faster upwind by say 50 - 100 metres each upwind leg, then we get good exciting fair racing between both solos and duals. What we loose in raising and snuffing the spinny, we gain on the next upwind leg.

The upside is that we have one startline of good numbers, a choice of whether one wants to solo or dual, and one winner, that to me was what the class ideals were right from the start.

We have good excting racing every time we go out, regardless of what shows up, Uni or Sloop. Some people can't handle the fact that a good Uni sailor is going to beat a poor Sloop team, and vice versa, so they place the "Blame" for a poor result on their configuration.

In the end I think it still comes down to who's driving (and/or crewing), no matter the configuration.

To have a real 'test' of boat configuration, I think you would have to get 10 identical boats, rig 5 as Uni, 5 as sloop, then get the top 10 skipper/crews in the world, and then race them side by side, rotating boats after each race, etc. Like the Alter Cup used to be, but with a mix of 5 Uni and 5 Sloops.

At the end of the regatta, if every sloop beat every Uni, in every race, then we could say the Uni is definately slower, but until we have that kind of proof, I think it still comes down to who is sailing it.

I'm not going to worry about it, I go out to have fun. It stops being fun when people start crying about how they got beaten by a configuration, vs. sailing technique.

Look at any A cat or F18 race. There are guys who finish way out front, and guys who are last. You can't blame the Uni/sloop for that. There is no way all boats are going to start and finish together, side by side. The difference between the starting line and finish possition is part luck (wind shifts) but mostly skill.

Now, if we have enough interest, perhaps we could run a Uni only regatta or training event, as I mentioned earlier.

Timbo you are pretty right in what you say, the best skipper will win regardless of the barge he / she is sailing. I can spend 1 1/2 hours trying to pass 4 Mustoo skiffs that have got the best start, these guys are top ten in the world and I'm probably bottom ten, tactics and knowledge often far surpass the power and speed of the boat.

This thread for me was an academic excercise to just confirm whether I was thinking along the right lines, the poll seems to confirm that there is quite a differnce in racing speeds between the solos and duals.

How the class deals with that can only be by class members approval, as my boat no longer truely conforms to F16 rules and I feel it is a better boat to play with than a production boat set up for dual crew, then I guess it will have to be without me.

Its also a bit academic in a way as the 5 year rule ( class rules can only be changed every 5 years ) will prevent any quick changes.

I don't see it so much as a difference in boat speed, I see it as a difference in ability.

As Pete pointed out earlier, there has not yet been an Olympic caliber skipper consistantly sailing F16's Uni, to give us a true comparison on the race course, to the Olympic caliber skipper/crews we see sailing the Sloops.

I like the freedom of not having to worry about finding crew. If I can get good crew for a regatta, great, but I also like the challenge of racing Uni, and knowing I've got nobody to blame but me, if I'm slow.

I only got into racing to improve my sailing skills, I'd like to be cruising to Tahitti on a big cat with a margarita in my hand, but I don't see that happening any time soon.

A light, fast, two up or Uni boat is about all I can afford now, so I'm good with the challenge and learning that comes with racing Uni, even if it's mostly against sloops.

"... I've got nobody to blame but me, if I'm slow." I blame Kris, she has Terry focused and now I don't have anyone to beat.

She's gittin' tough. You may be in for a surprise...

She's gettin' tough...?

Damn, I liked her when she was soft and squishy.

;^)

Last time out, we were bow to stern downwind, Terry distracted me and she drove over the top of me. She had that look in her eye. She's definitely developed a taste for blood.

Saright though, we need more grlz, specially drivers.