Predictions 2007. Predictions 2008

Footy Class General Discussion (Footy)
1

HAPPY NEW YEAR

This time last year, I made some predictions fot the year.How did I do?

  1. Racing will take off internationally and over the Internet
    Well, kinda

  2. The Internet course will become an accepted fact of life in many places.
    Well, kinda

  3. The fleet will grow dramatically.
    Very much so

  4. There will be at least one Transatlantic Match in 2007 (sure winner this one: I’ve paid for the tickets!).
    And they paid me the money back! However, Graham McAlister made it here, so that one worked.

  5. More manufacturers of ‘just add water’ boats, kits, and fittings will appear.
    Not quite

  6. The quality of sails will improve dramatically. Specialist sailmakers will begin to appear.
    Not as dramatically as I thought - but the best are now very good.

  7. There will be a move away from ‘Bobabout copy’ rigs.
    And how!

  8. Una rigs will be tried but will be disappointing except in light weather because of control problems down wind.
    Bit of a slip up here! Control problems solved and una rig now dominant.

  9. ‘Balloon jibs’ (see Dick Lemke) will be tried. If successful they will change hull design radically.
    Don’t think anyone tried one.

  10. Hull design will polarise in line with local engineering tradition and local conditions. American will go for wide heavy boats with loads of sail area (the Muscle Boat!). Europeans will tend to go for lighter, narrower boats with less sail and advanced structures to keep the weight down. If balloon jibs work, Australasia/Oceanea will go for skiffs with light weight and relatively little sail.
    First two seem to be pretty much OK

  11. Bendy masts will become normal. Footys will be the first boats to completely divorce mast bend from forestay sag. There will be a lot of experiments on getting away from the traditional model yacht foresail.
    All true, but not in quite the way!

  12. Engineering of rig control systems will become much better so as to use smaller, lighter servos.
    Beginning to happen in practice

  13. Free sailing will experience a renaissance. There will be pressure to allow rudders/vane gears on free-sailing models.
    Nope, not yet

  14. Scows and cats will be tried, but will tend to be one-trick-bears.
    Probably about right

  15. A new Footy aesthetic will emerge.
    Yes, and many of the latest boats are very pretty

  16. An appreciation will emerge that foils need to be extremely precisely made. The initial reaction will be parallel planforms that can be made by the metre with accurately moulded sections.
    E may be getting there :confused:

  17. Wide-sterned ‘dinghy-style’ hulls will go out of fashion for heavy boats. Some designers will try the ‘pregnant cow’ look.
    Not much evidence so far

  18. Well-designed, well set up, well-sailed simple boats will embarrass high-tech plastic fantastics
    Too true:mad:

  19. Hard chines (probably 5 or 6 panel) will remain competitive except possibly at the very top level.
    True

  20. Brett McCormack will be canonised. Angus Richardson will be fired from a cannon.
    Tue

  21. Most of us will have a lot of fun!
    And didn’t we just.

Anyone care to do the predictions for 2008. Barrett, you have a young and agile mind. Anrew, you’re crazy enough!
Happy New Year, People

Angus

2

dare i? hmm, maybe i’ll give her a shot…

3

PREDICTIONS ‘08

• Racing will pick up more and more momentum over the internet, and internationally. A push for national Championships will begin to pave a path for a future “World Championship.”

• Angus’s Footy Symposium will lead to some new insights into footy design for all… (some good, healthy nonsense will also add to the general mayhem!)

• More members will join the Footy community, and the fleet will grow dramatically from current levels.

• Manufacturers will stay much the same, and more building will be done by individual owners.

• Building of all sorts will remain mainly the task of the owner.

• One or two people will become the “sail makers” but the majority of kit boats will stay with their kit sails, and most homebuilders will make their own. There will be no movement where if you don’t have “professional” sails you can’t be competitive.

• Someone is going to join the Footy class that gives all of us old windbags on the forum a run for our money.

• Andrew’s ZBF is going to be the either the stepping stone to a new Footy order, or one of those things that is relegated to the purpose of giving others a good laugh.

• A “Muscle Footy” is going to rise that will challenge Moonshadow for “most thoroughbread footy.”

• The ensuing contest between the Muscle and the Smart will be nothing short of epic.

• Una-rigs will remain dominant, but may begin to find they have competition from the radicals on both sides, (the old style Bermuda rig will become more efficient, and someone will try a kite.)

• The “top” high end of the Footy world will become more and more divorced from the reality of the rest of the fleet as radical designs are put forth, tried, shown to work, and built upon.

• A “Open Footy” class will begin to emerge at the margins of the high-tech group, which accepted or not, will become the measure for “state of the art.”

• Angus and Brett will put their heads together, and create yet another beautiful, mysterious, high tech creation with which to wow us with all year. :wink:

• Fun will be had in copious quantities… :devil3:

I’ll add more if, and as I think of them!

4

Hmmm, crazy enough?

Since I am not in any way inhibited by knowledge I will lay down the following predictions for 2008:

A) Footy numbers will grow fast anyway.

B) Footy numbers will grow astronomically if someone enlists schoolkids to sail, make etc footys (schools in the UK have vac-form machines)

C) Debate will continue on the ideal shape of footy, it will be goodnatured, warm, occasionally heated and illustrated by abstruse (but fascinating) references

D) Some boats representing different design camps will float on (in one weird case under)the same piece of water during 2008.

E) The results will not resolve the debate, but will fuel yet more esoteric debate - and possibly more tenuous “evidence”*

F) before ZBF is fully sorted, Razors, American mussel boats and moonshadows will each earn wins (as well as well-tuned boats of all types)

G) Snakes and Mongeese will have very public development, and will succeed in their own ways

H) Fun will be had by all Footy sailors, spectators and debaters in their own peculiar way**

I) All those who get or give fun will be winners in 2008

K) Help and information will be freely given to newbies, spectators and anyone who posts on this forum.

M) In 2008 the health labelling regulations will require the forum to declare “may contain nuts”, and footys to carry an “Addictive substance” warning

L) Hygroscopic sponge marblehead footys will not (quite) be sufficiently developed to trouble the scorers in 2008

But what do I know

Anrew

  • The debate will be the real “Internet footy racing” with the course to include a starting gate signalled by the firing of a challenging macaroon, upwind leg beating against perceived wisdom (and the fellow debaters) and a downwind leg running mongoose-winged before an assumption.
    Points will be awarded by observers for:
    [ul]
    [li]leaps of faith
    [/li][li]delicate hair-splitting
    [/li][li]coming up smiling:D
    [/li][/ul]

**If we sailed the same boats, and had similar views and sails; fun would be limited to those who liked those particular things. Difference helps.

5

I have to agree about that last line “Difference helps”

I haven’t even finished the drawing for my first footy and I am already deviating from the straight and narrow. While this is going on I am also mentally revising the chine boat I am drawing into a carved hull with some changes that can’t convenienty be done with four sheets of 1/32nd ply.

Half (or more) of the fun of this is the chance to experiment and let your imagination roam where it will.

Pete

6

Pete,
if you are REALLY different please join the folk wallowing in the “radical footy” thread

andrew

7

I’m not doing anything radically different, but from what I’ve seen of boats people have built there are a few things I want to do differently because I think it is worth trying.

Maybe some of these things have already been tried and haven’t worked and the pictures that I’ve been looking at are the product of well evolved design, or maybe what I want to do will prove worth the effort. There is no way to evaluate the pro’s and cons in your mind. You have to give it a shot so that’s what I plan to do.

Now the whole thing is to tear myself away from the computer and actually build something. I’ve got wood at home and amazingly enough, carbon fiber, fiberglass, microballoons and all sorts of goodies buried here and there.

Nothing radical, but I hope a bit interesting. I also have to round up some bass wood for carving.

Pete