Changes to Sail Rules

Originally posted by Alastair Pugh I wish to recant my misinformed and ultimately pointless comments on the new rule.  In a moment of inquisitive contemplation I made the effort to look at what the new size rule for genoas actually means and my conclusion is - diddly-squat!  I don't think I've got the arithmetic wrong, but please check it yourselves and point out my errors: Present No1 can vary from 29.28-33.56m**2  (roller furling min luff of 35ft) Present No2 can vary from 26.84-30.19m**2 New No1 rule has a max of 32m**2 Why on earth does the committee think that such a minimal change in the sail size is going to make an iota of difference to encouraging non-racers to join in?   Most No1s, almost certainly if roller-furling, may already comply with the new rule and any No2 is going to be smaller than the new max area by more area than any existing No1 is bigger than the new size.  I must apologise for not realising the deckchair-shuffling-on-the-Titanic nature of this change before and wasting my and your time.

Originally posted by Alastair Pugh If the change is mainly to allow laminate sail material then why did the AGM accept the polyester only amendment? The IRC gave up on controlling sail materials for very good reasons.

Originally posted by Alastair Pugh However, if the change is to permit reducing the sail wardrobe when roller furling is used, why bother with the rest?  I can actually see the point in this and it would remove a restriction on entering class racing.   Alastair

If there's so little difference, why not allow both configurations for racing, maybe initially in two divisions until the lack of difference is proven or until one configuration is predominant?

Originally posted by George Isted Yes it can be a compromise but with the use of more modern, low-stretch but still affordable sail materials such as Pentex you can keep the headsail fully out in a much wider wind band.

Now I'm getting confused. 

The new rule says "Polyester/Dacron".  There is a variety of "polyesters" - all the word means is polymers which contain the ester functional group in their main chain, and that covers everything from resin for boat hulls to cling-film.  "Dacron" is a Dupont trade name, licensed to other manufacturers for Polyethylene Terephthalate (try saying that after a couple of drinks!) also known as PET.  "Pentex", a trade name of Honywell, uses Polyethylene Naphthalate, known as PEN with  Mylar or Melinex, both BoPET (biaxially oriented PET), as film, and on it goes.

What I'm trying to say is that "Polyester/Dacron" is ambiguous and has no place in the sail specifications.  I'm not entirely sure what the material amendment to the motion at the AGM was meant to achieve but already we have PET and PEN which are different in chemical make-up and in their physical properties and there is a myriad of other possibilities.  Looks like we are back to "material authorised by the Technical Committee" if control is really wanted.

As for the reduced sail wardrobe - it only makes sense if a furler is being used.  Would it not be more practical to maintain the full set of headsails unless a furler is being used, in which case the No2 and No3 can be dispensed with?

Alastair