New low-cost "hardware store" racing class; input on proposed rules

[CT249]

Well, the JR does allegedly distribute the loads better which would reduce stretch. But the downside include a whole bunch of battens (either very heavy, very expensive or both) and a bunch of "sheetlets" hanging off them. The simple bermudan sloop or cat rig is proven to be the fastest. Even the man the junk rig association points to as the owner of the top-performing racing junk rig (an X99) reckons it is about 8% slower than a sloop rigged sistership, which is an enormous speed loss.

 

[Zedwardson]

No worries CT, I was wondering if the sailcloth that can be used for a boat like this would do better with the JR setup. I never made a sail plan from scratch (I built a few rowboats from the 1 and 2 sheet ply designs) and was thinking on how I would be able to make a sail plan for say, a 2 sheet design.

 

[Luckless]

This may have been covered at some point in this long thread, and possibly we're well past the point of this being remotely useful to consider, but some input taken from game design:

Point Buy Systems.

Rather than trying to fix a budget based on potentially changing prices from year to year, consider building a class to a set value of 'points'.
You get X points or credits to spend, and then common off the shelf materials get assigned point costs.
Standard base unit sheet of plywood: 10 points (+ points for thicker, - for thinner)
Roll of Tyvek: 5 points
Standardized container of resin: 10 points
etc.

Overall balance is then controlled by the total number of points allowed, and then the values set for any given unit of stock material. This keeps a given design valid from year to year in the face of material price going up or down, simplifies the 'book keeping' for people to stay within the 'budget' ruleset, and maintains the challenge and flexibility of 'what can I build with this?'

A point buy would also greatly simplify regional variance - I have no idea of what current prices are, but I assume the boat I could build in Victoria BC is probably different than what I could do down in Seattle, and removes the question of "Well what exchange rate would we use?" when comparing the two.

 

[griffinb]

I believe the points-system was already explored in the first ten pages of this thread.

Which one of the rules will prevent someone from building a foiling windsurfer (sailboard)?

 

[sharpii2]

I believe the one requiring a 200 lb cargo box, for starters.

Read the rules.

 

[griffinb]

I believe the one requiring a 200 lb cargo box, for starters.

Read the rules.

I read the first 15 pages of this thread, but stopped when all the posts were suggestions that had already been made once. Which page of the thread are the final rules on? Any way to "sticky" them to the top of the thread (as an attachment, or something)?

 

[sharpii2]

I read the first 15 pages of this thread, but stopped when all the posts were suggestions that had already been made once. Which page of the thread are the final rules on? Any way to "sticky" them to the top of the thread (as an attachment, or something)?

Sorry for the gruff reply. The rules are on page 63.

 

[dsigned]

Well, the JR does allegedly distribute the loads better which would reduce stretch. But the downside include a whole bunch of battens (either very heavy, very expensive or both) and a bunch of "sheetlets" hanging off them. The simple bermudan sloop or cat rig is proven to be the fastest. Even the man the junk rig association points to as the owner of the top-performing racing junk rig (an X99) reckons it is about 8% slower than a sloop rigged sistership, which is an enormous speed loss.

Not disagreeing, but technically the JR is inferior for the same sail area. However, since you have what amounts to a rectangular sail, as opposed to two triangles, a lot more of your sail area will be up high, and you could (in theory) make a huge sail that was still relatively manageable. Since there's a limit to the mast height, it's possible that the JR could be competitive. It may just depend on how limited the boats wind up being by righting moment.