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by Karl_Brogger. 12/29/24 05:14 PM
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Re: The most important technological changes? [Re: Mark Schneider] #41662
12/26/04 07:21 PM
12/26/04 07:21 PM
Joined: Aug 2001
Posts: 1,307
Asuncion, Paraguay
Luiz Offline
veteran
Luiz  Offline
veteran

Joined: Aug 2001
Posts: 1,307
Asuncion, Paraguay
Quote
...the decision to change the shape of the race course from the triangle to windward leeward has had the largest effect on beach cats


The fact that originated the most dramatic design changes in small cats was the quoted modification in the rules of racing.

However, it was a change in the rules and it caused changes in design. Although it may have caused some technological innovations, it wasn't one itself.

Luiz


Luiz
-- Have You Seen This? --
Re: The most important technological changes? [Re: Mark Schneider] #41663
12/27/04 10:23 AM
12/27/04 10:23 AM
Joined: Feb 2003
Posts: 28
BillRoberts Offline
newbie
BillRoberts  Offline
newbie

Joined: Feb 2003
Posts: 28
Mark,
Maybe that Tornado test needs to be revisited with the flat twisty spinnakers we have today and the spinnaker launching and retracting system. All spin boats are faster today than they were than they were 15 years ago and the spin launcher/retractor system has reduced the spin up/down times to a few seconds. I think it is a better test of overall sailing capabilities for the jib/spin boats to race on the rectangular/trapozoid shaped race course.
Bill

Re: The most important technological changes? [Re: Mary] #41664
12/27/04 02:17 PM
12/27/04 02:17 PM
Joined: Dec 2002
Posts: 264
Neb
flounder Offline
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flounder  Offline
enthusiast

Joined: Dec 2002
Posts: 264
Neb
Synthetic, low-stretch, highly durable materials are the #1 technological advance. I have an OLD Nacra with new flat-top Pentex sails, Maffioli lines, carbo blocks..ect. In comparison to buying a new boat, these upgrades were much cheaper and gave the boat a new lease on life.

As far as getting more sailors involved... you would have to be completely out of touch with sailing not to give Hobie's roto-molded boats the nod. Durable (when the hulls are cooked correctly), easy to use, as fast as the popular fun boats.

??? Design and materials are always big. Getting more sailors involved is all marketing though. Hobie, Nacra and any other boat builder need to exploit multi-media. Talk about a complete waste. Hobie and Nacra (more so than Hobie) have completely missed the boat...

Re: The most important technological changes? [Re: Mary] #41665
12/27/04 02:22 PM
12/27/04 02:22 PM
Joined: Dec 2002
Posts: 264
Neb
flounder Offline
enthusiast
flounder  Offline
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Joined: Dec 2002
Posts: 264
Neb
And just for the record, most aviation technologies come from Military programs. If it wasn't for the military, I doubt the private sector would have advanced the airplane as fast.

Re: The most important technological changes? [Re: flounder] #41666
12/28/04 05:20 PM
12/28/04 05:20 PM
Joined: Dec 2001
Posts: 5,590
Naples, FL
waterbug_wpb Offline
Carpal Tunnel
waterbug_wpb  Offline
Carpal Tunnel

Joined: Dec 2001
Posts: 5,590
Naples, FL
So are you saying the Military should use catamarans so we can move ahead on the technology curve faster?

Hmmm, GI Joe on a cat... Potential... Isn't Carbon Fiber invisible to radar?

Can a H20 or N6.0 carry a full complement of Harpoon anti-ship missiles? Would they need those "euro-wings"?

Of course, if the military got hold of catamarans, Hobie and Performance Cat could charge us $40 million per unit.


Jay

Re: The most important technological changes? [Re: waterbug_wpb] #41667
12/28/04 09:38 PM
12/28/04 09:38 PM
Joined: Jun 2001
Posts: 1,911
South Florida & the Keys
arbo06 Offline
Pooh-Bah
arbo06  Offline
Pooh-Bah

Joined: Jun 2001
Posts: 1,911
South Florida & the Keys
twin 50 calibers would look sharp on my cat, heh heh heh.


Eric Arbogast
ARC 2101
Miami Yacht Club
Re: The most important technological changes? [Re: waterbug_wpb] #41668
12/29/04 05:43 PM
12/29/04 05:43 PM
Joined: Oct 2002
Posts: 307
maui
jollyrodgers Offline
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jollyrodgers  Offline
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Joined: Oct 2002
Posts: 307
maui
Hello,
the PT boats in the navy were the first fiberglass/wood boats as rumor would have it, and it was secret technology at the time. Certainly composites technology was perfected by military contactors as well.

The piece i saw on the Wright Bros. said they designed the first machine to test the lift of various foils. The info that was out there was just plain wrong and they had to get a good foil design to create sufficient lift. The foil lift data prolly hasn't changed that much in the last 50 years. at least the part pertaining to sailing cats.

we were in the cat biz during the boom, and always figured the so called gas crisis drove the powerboat guys nearly out of biz. hobie got tons of free advertising showing the surfing aspect of the sport and the class took off. Incidently surfing is a huge sport these days. there are kids under 13 making 5 figures , and surfing is regularly on the news in many places. catamarans just don't have the glamour to the masses without copius pictures in the surf.

When the A class went underground in the US it may have been due to the 18 square class which had plenty technology. The wing masted "Wild Turkey" was quite an impressive boat. It got to the windward mark way ahead of the tornados.

In a race, for me the beam reach is useless. Fun, but a useless train ride. The best Hobie heats in the big round robin events of old were the windward leeward heats. i doubt that would change with the asy. Maybe a few capsizes and bad sets, or douses, but otherwise a useless excercise as far as the tactics of passing boats goes. If you want fast reaching next to the beach have a slalom series.

the ratio of cat sailors vs. world population has to have gone way down in the last 20 years. 50 years ago performance beach cats were pretty new. that had to have been a rare breed then. Now cat sailing just isn't that intresting to the masses compared to windsurfing and kite surfing which have the epic videos in the surf. sizzle sells. perfecting what was there from 50 years ago has gotten us where we are today. guessing here but, weight reduction in the design has had the most significant effect on performance of the boats since 50 years ago.
happy new year

Last edited by jollyrodgers; 12/29/04 09:36 PM.
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