It does get hard at this point. When we went to Europe in 87 we were careful not to have any aerodynamic fairings on the yachts. Bill and I were the only yachts on the beach with no Aerodynamic fairings.
When we asked the reply was " that is the seat, not a fairing"
Personally I feel that when a Panel ( fairing) is added to the structure(seat or chassis) it becomes a fairing. what is noticable on the first photo is the hydrodynamics in the base of the seat to lift it through water. the riveted cover just behind the masts of both yachts has been added to the seat afterwards to FAIR in that part of the yacht. Basically in FISLY anything goes as long as you can get away with it for a competition without a protest
The promo rules take this in hand by making the seat sit on the chassis, so they are learning over time that some of the developments they have intrduced have created rockets that no-one can afford
the rule worked in its day. 1985. we in Australia and NZ took it as wrote, the Europeans wrote it to mean that the seat could have lots of aerodynamic shape, but not the chassis, but didnt tell us
Just a couple of quick comments.....
Wheels-
2002 Ivanpah worlds I was 6th place, in class 5 you see in my avatar.
It had those ally wheelbarrow wheels on the back, and an alloy moped wheel on the front (20 inch) with a skinny bike tyre on it, so the front end would track straight without wheel flexing.
This yacht was good for a solid 110kph and catching friendship class 3 yachts in 25 knot winds on the practice day.
None of the American class 5s got ahead of me & they all ran 20" bmx plastic wheels braced with wheel discs.
The yachts that got ahead of me were a couple of NZ OTTs with custom 20" wheels & the 2 french yachts which were modern fisly class 5s which meant they had 5.5 sq meter sails & the 26" wheels. They were a good 3/4 of a lap ahead of me in 3 laps.
I was the only one running wheelbarrow wheels! (work just fine on hard ground!)
I plan to base the new Promo on this yacht.
Front ends-
Note that current 'yachts run either "c" bar as per Faze 5 / Pacific magic or lay over front end as per Promo / Fed 5. If you look carefully you will find that the contact patch and kingpin angle end up in the same place. Sorry Gizmo, front forks 'old tech'!
This results in NO self centering as this only causes the yacht to be 'twitchy' when it gets side load! (which, remember, is most of the time!) With layover or 'c' bar set up right, you can sail feet off & yacht will track straight.
Seats on class 5-
The seats became more aerodynamic as you see them because they are not deemed to be part of the chassis. However limitations were that the pilot must be visible from above & the seat could not extend past the back of the mast.
Hope this is some help. Cheers
I was given this site
www.matweb.com/index.aspx
which is a materials data sitehttp://www.smartaluminium.com.au/Products.htm
Link to aluminium supply company
That Ally company had nearly all T5 ( no good ) the only good T6 was the 48.7? T6 which is the old imperial scaffold tube. That what you used on WDBC.
try looking up CAPRAL ALUMINIUM. they have a more apropriate range for landyachts
Capral and Smart Aluminium are now the same......
i was just directed by the Capral sales guy to the Smart site as Capral dont have a listing of sizes on the web...
Quote as per Capral site.....http://www.capral.com.au/Home/default.aspx
"Capral Aluminium, Crane Aluminium and Smart Aluminium businesses have merged together to create the New Capral, now better than ever. Capral offers you a greater assortment of Residential, Commercial and Industrial products. With a dedicated team, expert advice and a national network, Capral's commitment to servicing your requirements."
This might not be good for us all ...as it has reduced the suppliers in Australia
bugger. Capral are(were) the only ones that had the sizes/tempers that we need. The Perth warehouse had no listing at all for our sizes, and suggestedthat maybe I was at the wrong supplier. All our last batch of Ally came directly from sydney, all communication was via Email. Looks like the concept of a small yacht withwitha glass mast is looking way into the future.
Congratulations to BLOKART for re-inventing the idea
Yeah DR told me that T81 or T83 (I think it was) that we require for masts would have to come from China now 
I was just lucky that he managed to get my mast from QLD.
