Posted by: Pete Truesdell on March 16, 2005 at 12:25:58:
Is the main issue here about adding peices of carbon cloth or strands to what amounts to an existing sturdy wooden structure, adding reinforcement or to control stiffness, which seems to be what we do with fiberglass or, is it about building what are in effect carbon fiber components with lightweight core materials like balsa that really just support the carbon without being the main structral element in the laminate? If that is the concern perhaps the approach is to ban Balsa or set minimums on material density or something which would result in an effective limit on a carbon super boat while still allowing the tinkerers room to play.
I'm as cheap as they come and love to save a buck, I also am new to this sport sailing a used boat I got this year. At this point anything that keeps the costs down appeals to me as I start looking ahead to getting more involved and probably upgrading my gear as I go. It sounds like the composite masts have been a huge success and represent an example of a good decison to change the rules. Any other changes hopefully would only be made if similar positives outweigh the negatives (those masts do cost more to buy but are worth it). I think we can assume that the top competitors will get the best gear they can because they are committed to racing at that level. What's nice about the DN class is that, unlike many others, that gear is not way beyond what everyone else has- Ron Sherry's boat is wood too- so let's just be careful that that doesn't change. It is nice to think that if I'm careful in the shop I can build a boat as fast as any other out there if I can learn to sail it.
Steve Duhamel showed me his all carbon DN(not legal) that he and the guys at CSI built- it is absolutely stunning with a clear finish so you can see all the carbon(photos of it at Yahoo group). He thinks it is probably even stiff enough to not need a bobstay. I'm glad people try these things but even more glad that I don't have to buy or try to build something like that to be in the hunt.