shy thunder Posted August 20, 2004 Report Share Posted August 20, 2004 ok, lets get organised here..... 1st issue seems to be the plastic covering on the stays....... Association has reasons for keeping this... And some sailors have reasons for not. I myself would like to see no plastic on the majority of the side stay but maybe a plastic covering upto 1.2 metres above the chainplate on the side stays only to prevent injury to all who may nose dive, this could be in the form of clear plastic tube available at hardware stores etc being a large diameter tube allows hosing down within to prevent corrosion etc The removal of the plastic equates to a significant area of windage and weight up high where we don't want it, this would be beneficial to performance gains and simplify the rigging production etc. what other rule changes need to be considered for modification at class level for racing... let every one add their ten cents worth here for discussion when next we all meet.... cheers d Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest GUITAR MAN Posted August 20, 2004 Report Share Posted August 20, 2004 Someone said something about black bands not needed........ keep them as they allow at a glance who may have an oversize sail. as for plastic coverings i would say let them go the way of the "dodo" my rigging guy says to costly for him to get the plastic in just for my stays. how about any brand of sail so long as it measures in to class rules it is a long way to travel up to sydney or boolaroo just to get a class legal sail, what about the rest of the country if we are trying to rebuild the class nationally? might need some class associations set up to help police these measurements? guitar man Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest vertically challenged Posted August 20, 2004 Report Share Posted August 20, 2004 I don't like having to keep the original righting rope as I find my lack of length and weight can not utilise it properly. I use a longer rope stored on tramp that I throw over the hull to where I can reach it works better for me and quicker too than that darn contraption sold with the boat. The class rules should be "a righting rope of sufficient length secured to the boat." Or one of them carbon fibre righting poles that the yanks are now using seem to be good tooo. vertical challenged me Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sweet16 Posted August 20, 2004 Report Share Posted August 20, 2004 I would like to see the plastic covered stays rule go (even though my stays are legal)... the rule is outdated. Blank bands are ok, makes it easy to know the measurements of the sail and if these are being exceeded. black electrical tape is accepted at maricat events. Mine are painted on permanently, just used a tin of black spray paint and some masking tape... not a real effort. As for the righting rope. You do not need to keep the standard system that comes with the maricat. You could however be asked to show that the system you use is adequate. I don't use the standard system on my maricat as I don't think it works well. I use 2 bungy cords under the tramp and attached at each corner of the front beam... easy to get to and exactly the right length for me to right the boat quickly (important in shark infested lake maquarie) I also keep a short length of rope that I can get to in the tramp pocket to assist if needed and maybe for towing. Some of the lighter guys (not that there are many) might prefer this method as you get a bit more leverage when it is thrown over the hull. For heavy guys the bungy system is easier. And I think the list of sailmakers needs to be expanded.. just important that the sails are of legal size, shape and material. I would like to remove the rule that says only one block hanger can be used at a time. This seems a pointless rule and some of the early maricats came with 3 blockhangers used at once (with single blocks). Also like to propose a change to crew weight to equal the average adult weight for a male and the average weight for a female for cat rigged boats rather than 10 stone. Not sure about sloops.. but someone else can offer a suggestion there that has more expertise in that class. Seems that the majority of the cat rigged sailors are over 10 stone so at least gives people a more achievable target weight Originally the figure of 10 stone was selected only because that is supposed to be the minimum weight required to right the boat after a capsize. Don't think it was ever thought out in relation to class racing. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Emmessee Posted August 23, 2004 Report Share Posted August 23, 2004 My arguement about the bands on the mast is only that it you can get around it easily. Why have a rule that can be bent. All you have to do is put a screw in the mast track at the point of the black band and it prevents the sail going down further. Further more, you can cut part of the mast track out and the sail will hit the screw and then feed outside the mast track. Have a rule there if it is solid, but not many of the other classes have kept this rule because if there is a question over someones rig, get it measured. Relying on black bands on the mast is just plain dumb. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
johno Posted August 23, 2004 Report Share Posted August 23, 2004 yeh the last maricat national championships i just put two bits of tape on the mast so it would look the part. Its not that my sails were oversize but being my first maricat regatta i wasn't sure about the rule. Also in the states i didn't bother with the tape and no one seemed to mind. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
shy thunder Posted September 21, 2004 Author Report Share Posted September 21, 2004 SUBJECT: BLOCK HANGER, class rules allow an 8 to 1 purchase, but all commercial blocks are triples, which does not allow persons to utilise full purchase allowed, as most carry excessive rake another block between is not possible. SOLUTION: Change rule to allow multiple hung blocks on boom (as per the old paper tiger set up)? PLASTIC COVERED STAYS & DOLPHIN STRIKER WIRE: Class rules state they must be covered as per original manuf specification? SOLUTION: Extensive description to be added to class rules, min. thickness of material eg 2mm, min length of stay to be covered etc.eg to be 2m, measured from chainplate upwards. Electrician's tape & ski rope not permitted. or We vote for or against keeping rule. Measurer to be more pro-active before titles allowing boats and sails to be checked on certain days at different locations etc with a nominal fee to be paid for his services to travel to a venue?. Maybe the measurer can answer these suggestions? cheers david Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sweet16 Posted September 21, 2004 Report Share Posted September 21, 2004 Actually only 6:1 is allowed for the mainsheet on a Maricat 4.3 8:1 would be helpful for some of the younger/older or less mobile though. I would be happy if one line was removed from the rules i.e "Only one block hanger may be used at a time." This is from the rules; Mainsheet Gearing: maximum purchase 6:1 Rope & pulley system only Roller bearing blocks and cleats allowed. Block Hanger Extra block hangers may be added to the boom. Only one block hanger may be used at a time. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Warrier Posted September 22, 2004 Report Share Posted September 22, 2004 My vote would be to have no plastic covers on the stays/dolphin striker at all. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pete Posted September 22, 2004 Report Share Posted September 22, 2004 I agree that a couple of the rules should be revised. The plastic covering on the shrouds and dolphin striker wires doesn't make much sense. Similarly I can't understand why we restrict the number of block hangers on the boom. Mind you I am quite happy using just the 1. As I understand it the rules are designed so that we can all sail on "a level playing field". If this is the case the rules should concentrate on boat weight and sail area as these two variables would appear the most crucial to the Maricat's speed potential. From looking at this site it seems that sail area is not a big issue, thanks in part to the restricted list of sail makers, and the very clear measurement restrictions. There does not seem to be general agreement on the minimum weight of the Maricat. If it is 95 kgs fully rigged then I venture to say very few (none that I know of)'traditional build' Maricats would be minimum weight. That aside I think the weight resriction should be clarified with additional words such as fully rigged, or platform only. Other catamaran classes have much clearer restrictions on weight. If differences in mast rotation make so little difference to the performance of a Maricat then why have a rule that restricts mast rotation control devices? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sweet16 Posted September 23, 2004 Report Share Posted September 23, 2004 Agree with Pete that Sails and Weight are probably the most important areas on the maricat. Crew weight could also be included to make it 3 main points. I would like to add a comment on sails. This rule is yet to be tested, as yet no-one has tried a Pentex sail on a maricat as far as I know. On the maricat we are limited to Dacron sails. Dacron is a registered trade mark from DuPont and refers to a polyester material sail. the cloth used currently on maricats is a low aspect, low modulus polyester. There are other polyester materials available inluding high aspect, low modulus woven or high modulus material. Pentex is high modulus polyester. It differs from the currently used sail material in that it is rated at 2.5 times less stretchy. That may or maynot be good for maricats since no-one has tried it. Pentex comes as a laminate or in woven form. I am aware of a number of other classes testing this rule and in the cases I know of Pentex became accepted as just another type of polyester sailcloth. In fact it is marketed as being useful for those classes that do not allow high tech aramid materials such as carbon or kevlar. any comments on this... or anyone out there experimented with this cloth? could be the next fast thing on maricats well, thought I would add it to prompt some discussion. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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