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Maricat Weights


Warrier

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OK just to continue the discussion a little bit more.

That means your going to have 5 Maris sailing in the lightweight class,5 in the heavy class,5 in the super sloop class and 5 in the sloop rigged class(give me some latitude on the numbers),that does not sound like a class that is moving foward in a consertive effort together.

How much does the new mari weigh,maybe put weights in it or get the skipper to eat 10 pies a day to get the weight factor up.

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I don't think you would start new classes for the new boat Warrier, just realign the handicaps within the appropriate class the new boats are sailing in whether that be cat, sloop or super sloop. Everyone then has an opportunity to buy a new boat or not for that matter and sail it in whichever class they desire. It's all about freedom, giving people a choice, no one HAS to buy a new boat if they choose not to. I think it depends on your motivation. Is it to keep the class as is so you stay competitve or is it to allow the class to update so as to appeal to newcomers to grow the class ?

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this is a bit late.. but to answer how ZAX went in mixed company.

Saturday was too windy for races to be held. I took ZAX out and it performed ok in the strong wind, it seemed actually easier to handle than a standard mari even with the larger square top sail. I think this is because the material is able to hold its shape better than the softer dacron.

There were 4 races held on Sunday but as there were no other modified 14s at the regatta I sailed ZAX with a standard sail cat rigged. The Koonawarra yardsticks were used for the races with Paper Tigers finishing first and second, ZAX third and one of the arrows in 4th. Each of the first 4 boats was from a different sailing club which was good (Koonawarra first, Long Jetty second, Mannering Park 3rd, Spears Point 4th). the racing was very close and there were classes for maricat, paper tiger, windrush and arrow.

Fastest boat of the regatta was a standard paper tiger. ZAX was not too far back with a standard sail and I think that with the square top it could have easily had fastest times.

where are all the Retro 14s and Formula 14 boats?

One thing I did notice is that there seems more interest from new sailors and young sailors in the maricat with the square top. I have had a number of non sailors come and ask about the boat, how to sail it and where to get one. Expect that there will be even more interest when it runs under kite. It looks alot more modern than the classic mari.

To answer another post. The manner in which the maricat is raced, classes within the maricat fleet, sails and rigging used is generally up to the maricat association. For the square top sail to be used in maricat events would be up to the association as would introduction of kites or any other change in configuration.

This is no different from the hobie 14 class for example. Proposed changes to sails and mast rotation etc. are voted on at the association level (bit more involved since it is an international class) but it does not just come from the manufacturer.

As an association do we just sit back and wait for the manufacturer to drive the class forward? Surely as an association of people that love maricats we can assist a bit smile.gif

I hear $10,000 and $12,000 often mentioned as prices for the new boats. It does not cost so much to jsut bolt on a new set of hulls.. everything fits ok, the beams bolt straight on. The cost of doing this to upgrade the boats is significantly less than to do the same thing for a windrush or hobie 14 as an example. there are alot of very old maricats around that have good beams and rigging etc. it is not so much to update them if Ross can keep his prices where they are now for a while. A few nice shiney new boats in the class cannot do too much to hurt the maricat image... ??

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this is for warrior.

last Nationals I had the oldest maricat in the fleet and was able to be competitive (2nd to Wayne). This year I will have one of the newer maricats in the fleet and expect to also be competitive, at this point I am not expecting to be ahead of Wayne unless he has slowed down lately. The maricat has not changed so much that older boats will become obsolete.

I am sailing with a new set of hulls now and am very happy with them. The hulls made by Ross are great. He has improved the strength of the hulls significantly and still been able to meet the minimum weight without using exotics. Basically he has fixed known problems with the hulls as should be expected from a good manufacturer. A new boat should really be better than an old boat and not have the same design flaws such as where the hulls break up around the beams and in front of the beam with the sloops. The hulls are reinforced around the front and rear beams, stainless plate is used to attach the rudders rather than the old aluminium casting. Just a number of improvements like this to make a stronger boat.

After sailing with the new hulls I would not expect that anyone can just buy a set and immediately improve on their placings. If you buy a new set of hulls would you expect to finish ahead of Wayne? Possibly you could as you are a very good maricat sailor and you currently sail a heavy boat. But it does still come down to skill level of the skipper. You would also do better by finding a lighter boat even if an older one.

I still expect that Sweet16 will be competitive in the Nationals at Port Maquarie. You will be competitive, as will Skye, cygnat and Wayne and others. Should be a good series. Would you rather that I ditch the new hulls and bolt on an older set borrowed from Darcy for the event?

Actually I think a new sail makes more difference than the hulls. If someone is racing with an old set of sails they would gain more by updating the sails first before looking at bolting on new hulls.

Sailing sloop one of the best things to improve performance is getting a new jib if the existing one is old/stretched out of shape.

Sailing cat rigged one of th best things that most of us could do to improve performance is to get to Jenny Craig. So far, none of us seems to be that serious with the racing.

cheers !

John.

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John, in that company a third place is not shabby. There are a couple of topline PTs in Hobart and I have only managed to beat them a couple of times around a standard course. Usually in very light wind and flat water. As soon as the wind picks up they are much too quick for me upwind. It may have something to do with me being way overweight.

If you don't mind I have a couple of questions about ZAX:

Does it feel stiffer to sail than Sweet16?

Does it have bulkheads?

How much does it weigh?

It will be interesting to see how you go at the Nationals having got very close last year. Sailing on the river will be challenging, and the boats from CRSC should feel right at home. Good luck.

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Pete,

To answer your questions about ZAX:

Does it feel stiffer to sail than Sweet16?

No, it is not as stiff in the water as Sweet16. It feels quite loose and I am working on resolving this. Dave (Skye) would have noticed this at the 14 regatta. Not sure if I ended up with a soft front beam or something else is going wrong. Will have it sorted before the Nationals smile.gif Keep in mind that I assembled ZAX from parts and it was not delivered loose... so this is my fault and not anything to do with quality control at Brisbane catamarans. Sweet16 was an unusually stiff boat and I think this was partly to do with the age of the fibreglass.

"Does it have bulkheads?"

Yes, it has bulkheads forward and aft around the beams. It should be much stronger than Sweet16 (useful for the large Kite).

"How much does it weigh?"

At the Nationals it will weigh in just over minimum. I don't know yet what is weighs but it feels lighter than Sweet16. I am overseas at the moment and will weigh it when I get back in mid December. Will let you know then. I have to weigh it and attach and correcting weights required prior to completing tuning before the Nationals.

"It will be interesting to see how you go at the Nationals having got very close last year. Sailing on the river will be challenging, and the boats from CRSC should feel right at home. Good luck."

Thankyou, well as always I will be trying my best. I have raced at Port Maquarie quite alot in the past both offshore and in the river including a regatta there on windsurfers amongst other things. I also raced regularly in other rivers including the hawkesbury river so not really concerned about that. Rather sail in the ocean at Port Maquarie though just for the fun of it.

At the moment I am not sailing fast enough to have a serious chance at keeping up with Wayne (unless Wayne does not like river sailing). The person I sold Sweet16 may be a contender for that. Also a boat called Humungus is very fast and back on the water after a long break. Should be an interesting Nationals smile.gif

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John

Thanks for the information. With the construction techniques used on ZAX, she should be stiff. Did you bed the beams in with an epoxy bog?

My boat was done this way many years ago and still feels quite stiff. I haven't wanted to touch the beam bolts as the boat feels so good the way it is.

Look forward to hearing how much she weighs, and some of the other better performing Maricat weigh at the Nationals. It will be interesting to see if there is any relationship between platform weight and position in the fleet. Mind you on a river boat speed may not be as crucial as in open water. I suspect skipper smarts will outgun boatspeed.

In Hobart we sail big courses in open water and without boatspeed there is nowhere to hide!!!

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The beams on ZAX are bogged in as they were on Sweet16 i.e. measured on diagonals and across, bogged then bolted, there is no movement between the beams and the hulls. The movement is actually just in the front beam itself (bending). The dolphin striker is firm. It has been suggested that maybe the beam has not been hardened. The process for making the front beams is that first a soft section (T1?)is bent to shape and drilled, then it is sent away to be hardened (T6?)and then anodised. Maybe mine missed the hardening... still investigating. Will not be an issue for the Nationals as one way or another it will be fixed prior to then.

Sweet16 is cantered more than ZAX which also improves the stiffness. I may end up having to do this with ZAX also but rather not if I can help it since it introduces twist in the hulls and may weaken the boat under spinnaker.

Another smaller issue to fix is the hatch covers which will leak when water is over the decks. On Sweet16 I ended up removing the front hatch covers and may do the same on ZAX to stop the leaks. The rear hatch covers which are the curved type do not leak. Anyone have another suggestion on how to prevent leaking front hatches?

ZAX also has more weather helm even though rake and rudder angle is the same as on Sweet16... amazing all the little things that have to be sorted on a new boat.

I am now using rear chainplates where on Sweet16 I did not use chainplates on the front or rear stays prefering to just have a single snap shackle on the front and a small D shackle on the rear. ZAX seems to requires more stay adjustment possibly because of the bendy front beam.

All good fun though playing with boat tuning smile.gif

Don't really expect that there will be a direct correlation between boat weight and placings. There was never such a thing in the past when alot more maricats were racing and the boats were weighed for championship events. If it did come down to just boat weight i.e. 95kg minimum then would not be much point to race.

The variance in skipper weight is more. With a range between the minimum weight of 65kg and 100+ for some of the skippers this can be an issue. The range in boat weights is only from 95kg to 100+

After taking a break from sailing maricats for some time I did not think it would be possible to still race competitively at over 90kg against skippers weighing in at 65 - 75kg. I guess fortunately, most of the skippers weigh around 90kg. If there were more light and experienced skippers I really don't think us 90kg+ guys would be competitive.... but still having fun sailing the maricats regardless.

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