I have been searching around for information on the Formula 100 class of boat, but have been unable to turn up much apart from what is on microsail.com. What is the latest news on this class? Anybody have any more information or current rule sets? I have been wanting to design my own model sailboat for a while now, but I really don’t care for the classes with the heavily restricted rules; Formula 100, on the other hand, looks to be very open in terms of design innovation.
I dug back into my files and can only come up with the photos/info attached. At the time, it was a ballyhooed project that originated in France. Doug Lord, a proponent of canting keels for r/c sailboats was disappointed that no class would consider changing rules to allow movable ballast so he proposed the class for here in the U.S.
“Supposedly” he had development of a hull including speed predictions done by Graham Bantock from the U.K. and while there were a few “wireframe” 3D drawings, to my knowledge no one ever saw one come out of Microsail or sail. Old timers tot his website will recall the heated exchange between Doug and non-believers.
You might email Graham at SailsEtc. and ask if he completed the drawings and if they would be available for purchase - or if Doug Lord owns the rights to the drawings (if indeed they really exist).
The black boat in the photos was built by Magnus Clark of Toronto Canada if I recall correctly. (Same guy that crewed the C Class winning catamaran in last C Class championships)NO - the orange “thing” is not a radar dome - it is actually a small fiigure of “KENNY” from the comic series “South Park” who is acting as skipper. The other photo is Grant from “down under” who is the “father” of the WindWarrior class boat - the first (and only to my knowledge) production swing keel r/c model. Finally the Adobe file is the only advertising literature I had on file.
If I have screwed up on names and faces - my apologies - most of this stuff was current about 2003-2004 and since it never really took off here in the U.S. - memory tends to fade on “ideas” as opposed to sailing classes.
Gidday Chris, If you are keen to design and build within a class that has few restrictions then in my humble opinion you should look at the developing “RG65 Class”
There are numerous free plans available of existing boats to give you an indication of what is current and help you formulate ideas for your own version of these small craft. The size makes them ideal for quick and easy construction with few restrictions on material and just enough restrictions on sailplan and length to ensure fair and equal competition.
Check them out and see what you think. Best wishes.
