Looks like continental and topical drift will prevent tha land sailors of OZ from discovering the secret class 6 regs again . oh well .
Yeah I think Paul wants to clarify if the comment about the sail size being increased to 4.5m2 as previously stated is correct or not.
Oops I hope no one saw me mispell sail in that post
Yeah I saw but I wont tell anybody
But I understood Paul said he was using blokart specs. I dont believe blokart have a 4.5m sail, according to the bk catalog its either 3 or 4m.
Ha, thanks mate, next thing I'll mispell yot
I was reading the class 5 specs tonight (as you do ) and it stated that the sail size was increased to 5.5m2 but at the same time the way they measured sails changed to include the luff round. I wonder if the same thing happend for class 6??
The wording of (outside of wheels) was added at a time when pilots woul measure the yachts with one set of wheels and then race with a bigger set. the main wheel to be changed was the front . 16"bicycle on a hard smooth surface, 20"bicycle,for hard but rough ,wheelbarrow tyre for soft days. Setting an overall length stopped the arguements. width was measured by rolling between 2 post, but not with the pilot in. that part was for class 5 because with the chassis and wheels the Europeans were and still are using on cl 5 allow it to be significantly wider under sail.
Re. Blokart spec. the 2 used on lefroy minis are wheelbase only. BLOKART now has an absurd 5.5m? sail.way over the top for lefroy. We are using the relevant FISLY measuring system for our sails as it was the only one weve yet been able to download and redily apl.http://www.fisly.org/index.php?id=2 (pages 50-51)
My query re the extra .25m of sail stem from my present sailmaking efforts. when I recut a sail I draw onto the sail to be recut, then measure to make sure it is not going to go over spec , then cut and sew. On lake lefroy 4.25 is as much sail as you would want to put on our minis. If I'm going to recut a sail for a softer,slower surface like say lake gillies some of our bigger pilots may want a bigger sail. Therefore I and others need to know the max sail area,and most importantly the measuring system used..
We currently have some new profesionally sails here that were Bought as 5.5m2 sails but measure by FISLY rules at 5.78m2 . it cost us too much to frieght back and forth to the sailmaker again and again for him to get it right.
Always keep in mind that NZLYA got so up its self on people pushing rules that most of the pilots left , many now sail blokarts as they feel they know where they stand and the rules are set by the manufacturer
I rely on the opinion of Bill Finch , who spent a lot of time on the surface with a number of yachts, including VINDICATOR on the lake . I have sailed cl 5 and 6 on its neighbour Lake Finnis. a lake with the same geological and chemical origins. I have a number of good photographs of the wheel tracks away from the hard edges of the lake. ready comparison can be made with the catelogue of photographic data and hardness readings taken from similar lakes in SA, WA , and VIC. when you combine this with the small test pits dug on the lake to study the Gypsum content and its crystal nature and interlacking capacity, you tend to build up sense of what the surface is like.
naturaly Ive extensively watched footage of various yachts sailing on it and all the other lakes /surfaces I have sailed on and this is also of great value .. Obviously I get detailed oral reports from other club members who have sailed there and compare that to previous years reports, tie that in with rainfall data . One would assume that everybody else does this,if not maybe they should,
perhaps Im just a freak of nature who needs to know the why of it
Here you go, just got this from the president of ALSA:
The class 6 specs are current. The specification reads 4.25M2 they are not 4.5M2
Problem solvered
Perhaps Boogie could let us know where His OFFICIAL increase in sail area came from . the poet adds 0.35 ---0.40 to the sail area. I dont want to get disqualified before racing. so lets get this one sorted, please
Wow, well waddya know about that then. Excellent write up Brian, thankyou.
And welcome to the forum of course.
As for class 6 not 'taken off' I think this should be qualified with a 'yet'. It is unfortunate that the class did not evolve, but I don't think its too late. Maybe there just wasnt sufficient interest previously and the concept was kept in the bottom drawer, but I think the snowball is now growing and things might be different in future. Heres hoping...
Yeah, welcome Brian and thanks for that excellent info!!
Sounds like pretty sound reasoning behind starting class 6 IMHO. AS Bazl says its not too late. With the availability of Blokarts and soon Phoenix class 6s and Lake Lefroy minis hopefully landyachting in general will become more popular.
I hope you stick around and share more of that wealth of knowledge with us
I found the photo I was looking for, unfortunately the snap is in pretty poor condition, this is the famous Wooden Chook the last of the class 6's until the arrival of the Blokart.
As you can see it really was built from a chook crate....it used to go like the clappers too and kept up with the club 88's.
That was another yacht built ( Ithink ) by bruce Biddle. one year the yacht was blak with genuine coffin fittings which he had to return to the undertakers after the regatta. ( I kid you not) .
The yacht was built along the chooks lines and was the main competition that Bill faced