My (mostly very dodgy) predictions for 2007. Give us feedback with yours
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Racing will take off internationally and over the Internet
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The Internet course will become an accepted fact of life in many places.
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The fleet will grow dramatically.
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There will be at least one Transatlantic Match in 2007 (sure winner this one: I’ve paid for the tickets!).
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More manufacturers of ‘just add water’ boats, kits, and fittings will appear.
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The quality of sails will improve dramatically. Specialist sailmakers will begin to appear.
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There will be a move away from ‘Bobabout copy’ rigs.
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Una rigs will be tried but will be disappointing except in light weather because of control problems down wind.
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‘Balloon jibs’ (see Dick Lemke) will be tried. If successful they will change hull design radically.
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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.
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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.
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Engineering of rig control systems will become much better so as to use smaller, lighter servos.
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Free sailing will experience a renaissance. There will be pressure to allow rudders/vane gears on free-sailing models.
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Scows and cats will be tried, but will tend to be one-trick-bears.
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A new Footy aesthetic will emerge.
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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.
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Wide-sterned ‘dinghy-style’ hulls will go out of fashion for heavy boats. Some designers will try the ‘pregnant cow’ look.
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Well-designed, well set up, well-sailed simple boats will embarrass high-tech plastic fantastics
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Hard chines (probably 5 or 6 panel) will remain competitive except possibly at the very top level.
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Brett McCormack will be canonised. Angus Richardson will be fired from a cannon.
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Most of us will have a lot of fun!
[b]Happy New Year, People
Angus[/b]