I gave a little talk at our club night recently and showed my nearly finnished FOOTY. I have created a bit of interest and hopefuly we will see another couple in the build.
I downloaded the two pages of rules and built a measuring box to make sure that my boat was still legal under the revised rules. ( it is )
I was somewhat suprised to realise that the restriction on mast height had been deleted from the rating rules. Originally the maximum height had been set at
21 inches this later changed to 18 in.
Whilst I can understand that rig height will be governed by local conditions it is most unusual to have no restriction on rig height.
There is a 12in limit on the B rig so maybe 18 in on the a rig would be the go?
Let`s hear your view.
Poll; Should there be a height restriction on the A rig?
Having no restriction on the height makes mearsuring very simple.
Having a 12 inch restriction on the “B” rig will automatically make the designer think long and hard about the size of the “A” rig because the simple fact is as the wind increases you will need to change to a 12 inch high rig.
So for instance you build a 30 inch high “A” rig and the wind at the start of the day is a very gentle 2 knots…you will most likely find yourself doing well.
But the wind builds to 5 knots and your massive “A” rig now has you very much overpowered.you have no choice but to change to your 12 inch “B” rig.
The guy with his 20 inch “A” rig is now winning the races as you are now severely underpowered, perhaps it would have been wiser to build the “A” rig a little shorter? interesting problem for Footy designers I think.
The designer now has the choice to optimize the design to local conditions and full freedom to develop the “A” rig in any manner…the “B” rig rule keeps things in check and keeps a tighter rein on actual “A” rig heights than you would think.
Experience with these little boats in different conditions has me belive that designers need freedom in this area to have the boats work well in local conditions,these little boats are very sensitive in this regard.
Quote from Brett.
“The guy with his 20 inch “A” rig is now winning the races as you are now severely underpowered, perhaps it would have been wiser to build the “A” rig a little shorter? interesting problem for Footy designers I think.” End quote
I can see the reasoning behind your argument but I have a simple way around your challange.
Not necessarly in the best spirit of sportsmanship but I am sure that would not stop someone who is keen to win.
By building a number of A rigs in 2 inch increments from 18–30 in, then arriving at a contest with these in the box and making a last minute call based on the existing and predicted conditions as to which will be their designated A rig for that contest.
Does this not encourage cheque book racing?
Of course I am being a bit of a prick with this argument but the world is full of pricks, ( definitely not you dear reader ) hehehe.
Ian, I can’t argue the possibility of someone building a bunch of rigs to do just that. Then again, why would someone like that want to race Footys? I think those guys are too busy racing boats a bit more than 3 times longer!!
(That was a joke guys…Yankee humor…really…I race longer ones, too!)
Guys heres a little suggestion please take it the right way.(this is only toy boats after all)
Perhaps if some of you were to actually sail and race these little boats for a period of time then you may understand the reasoning behind the thinking in the rules that were written by 3 guys in 3 different parts of the world over a fairly long length of time. We agonised long and hard over many points of difference I can assure you. I am actually pretty proud of the work we done.
To have this work second guessed by people who have not yet sailed or raced in the class is well a bit… you know.
Of course I welcome suggestions from those with experience with these unique yachts.There will be a time in the future when any issues in the rules can be adressed and amended.