Removal of rule 8.2 Explained: Comments from Andrew Landenberger
Below comments from IACA's President regarding the removal of Rule 8.2
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Removal of rule 8.2 Explained
"At the time of the removal of the no Hyrofoil rule, I was chairman of the Technical committee. The way I understood the IACA decision was that the no Hydrofoil rule was to be removed after ballot because it was to difficult to define what a hydrofoil was or in fact what constituted a flying boat.
The result was we created the inner box rule which was intended to allow continued development of the class but to limit how far that development could go. Our concern was that a standard A cat would be completely re designed into a foiling craft which would make all current boats obsolete.
It is the inner box rule which controls this point very well and even now with new foil development the boats remain very standard in appearance and even performance of some of the newer ideas is questionable.
Rule 8.2 was a by product of the inner box rule which a few of us always opposed because it was possible to easily work around. At the time we were dealing with something we did not fully understand so it was voted to introduce this rule to slow down development of extreme lifting foils.
Since this time we have seen a lot of development towards foiling catamarans which has captured the sailing world attention. It has also been demonstrated that the boats become easier to sail with less tendency to nose dive.
Our inner box rule is still the limiting factor on how much lift can be created so this is the most important point I want to make.
Rule 8.2 does nothing to stop those who really want to go down this path of development. It just comes down to expense. Exotic boats can now be built within the current class rules to accept almost any centreboard shape. The situation at this time is that these boats will be significantly more expensive to build than our standard boats - only to satisfy this rule. Effectively all current boats could be out of date very quickly if more boats are built with large cases
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The idea of removing rule 8.2 was to reduce expense and allow all current boats to more effectively carry different foils.
At this point I think it is impossible to assume what the outcome of the development will be. Our inner box rule does a very good job to limit the amount of lift which can be created under the water so across all wind conditions it is not possible to assume that a foiling style boat will be the best all round solution.
Those questions are something only time will answer. After the informal meeting in Barcelona it was very clear that a huge majority of the fleet felt this was something the class should be left the freedom to explore. So the concept to remove the rule 8.2 is more about reducing costs and allowing people to experiment with existing boats rather than the need to buy a new purpose built boat.
The question of flying or not flying is one we have been through before and it was found almost impossible to define within the boundaries of the current boats. We considered the only way we could do this was to ban all curved boards and return to straight boards with limits on angles etc. This was already to late as so many boats were already out there with curved or canted boards. Given the development we are seeing in the AC and other Catamarans we might be very foolish if we don't allow the class the right to learn from this."
Best regards,
Landy
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For info please read previous post on Submission http://www.a-cat.org/?q=node/268
Excerpt on Rule 8.2 From link above
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"....Please read below for more detailed information of point 1 and 2.
1. Removal of Rule 8.2 only with no additional rules
A proposal was received from England to allow centreboards to be inserted from the bottom of hull and boat to float in 30 cm of water. This would constitute a change to our measurement rules and would firstly need three countries to submit proposal, then a 2/3 majority of National Associations to support at WGM followed by a ballot of all fleet members again with a 2/3 majority.
We have looked at proposal as submitted and are of the opinion that it must be up to the class to decide. Simply Rule 8.2 stays or goes. Boat floating in 30 cm of water would be impractical to measure.
We do however believe that IACA has a responsibility to advise all national associations and fleet members the ramifications of such a change.
To assist we put together a small list of the pros and cons of such a change
Cons
Issues in crowded boat parks and launching areas with boats needing to be tipped on their side on land or in water to insert boards.
Inability to fully raise foils in light weather.
Inability to clear debris (plastic bags, weed etc.) from foils
Pros
Reduction in costs without having to build boats with exotic structure to allow extreme boards to be inserted from the top.
Most current boats would be easily modified to accept modern board developments.
Old boats may be able to be fitted with modern boards and made more competitive again which may be encouraging for new sailors to the class looking in the second hand boat market."
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