| 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
veteran
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veteran
Joined: Aug 2001
Posts: 1,307 Asuncion, Paraguay | ...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
| | | 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
Carpal Tunnel
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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]
#41668 12/29/04 05:43 PM 12/29/04 05:43 PM |
Joined: Oct 2002 Posts: 307 maui jollyrodgers
enthusiast
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enthusiast
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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