Messages

Jimmy,
Which sister should we congratulate on her taste?  And, what has she bought?

Antony

I actually slightly disagree with Mike on this one.  The belief is that there is a marginal benefit from having the weight in the right place (the middle) and that the boat might remain stiff for longer.  In practice the benefits are marginal.   I buy boats with lots of lead in them confident that the class has no intention of lowering the overall weight any further in the foreseeable future.

It is also important to realise that very few 12s actually have any meaningful amount of carbon in them anyway and that it is not a huge part of the cost of a new boat.

Antony
35? (must get it a number!)

Jerry,
Sadly Jo and I will not be able to make it, not having a boat or any babysitting has finally accounted for our attempts to be there.

All of the details are at:
http://www.waldringfieldsc.com/

Antony

Kean,

You make a good point, and there is a valid argument that we should sell the second hand boats for a higher price to reduce that premium.  I chose not to do this, and think that I sold the boat for a fair price based on the initial cost and the depreciation that you would expect over that period.  I am actually pleasantly surprised by the eventual cost of my main hobby since that boat was built in 2003.

We are lucky that there are many ways of getting a new boat, from designing and building your own all the way to calling up Tom at P&B and then sending him a large cheque.  The luckless RS200 sailor can only write the big cheque to the big company, and is then locked in to buying their new sails from that same company for ever.  I am happy that in comparison my new boat is better built in more modern materials and offers value for money.

Antony

N3484 is now sold, despite my taking it for a sail at Thorpe Bay.

If anybody has a DB boat that is not getting the use it deserves, or even better is tempted to buy a new one in time for next year, then let me know and i can provide a short-list of other people that expressed an interest in buying Fatso.  

It is very encouraging for the class how fast these boats change hands, and somewhat disappointing for the class that we cannot get more new boats built and more second-hand boats on to the market to satisfy the demand.

Antony
N35??

Jeremy,

I will try to get a date for the Mid-Winters at RH, it is usually mid-Feb and it would be nice to avoid it if possible.

Also, as an extra thought perhaps we could nominate one of the early days for a video camera and some post-race coaching or Q&A?  We would obviously need to find somebody that could sit in the rescue boat and take some footage, and then a corner to do a playback and discussion?

Antony
N3484, but not for long as my new boat is now at P&B!!

TBYC have now put the official Notice of Race on their website, accessible from tbyc.org.

See you all there,
Antony

Matt,
It would be good to see you both again after all that effort you put into building her!

I suspect that you will get a lot of opinion and advice on this one.  For what it is worth my views are:
1.  I would never expect anybody to crew for me in a DB 12 with no thwart, and you should certainly try putting it back.
2.  A partially self-draining boat is something that people should continue to work on, as there are clearly comprimises that maintain the rigidity of the new boats while sacrificing some of the self-draining attributes for comfort..
3.  The more radical option of raising the side of the boat, as Gavin has done, is very hard to retro-fit... perhaps you should build another one!

Antony

Simon,
I would not assume that everybody that sails a 12 in the South of England looks at this site.  To get more people might require more work, whether it should or not is another debate.  If, between you, you can contact people around the other clubs that there are 12s by phone you are much more likely to get a response and a good gauge of numbers.  

You also need to bear in mind that there is an Open meeting at Up River SC in Essex that day, and a Gill event the following day.

Good luck,

Antony

It is possible that Michael posted the mailing faster than Graham expected!  I suggest we all wait patiently for Graham to get a chance to put the survey up on the front page of the site.

Antony

Jeremy,
I think that it is a great idea given that it is a great club and well situated for a lot of people with 12s.  Personally it is a bit too far away to do a series, but please make sure that there is a daily entry fee and that people can come for just the odd one or two of the selected days.

We might even have our new boat by then.......

Antony

I am told this is great, sadly i never managed to do it and am now far too old.  I guess i might be there in about 8 years time....

Details:
http://www.rhyc.demon.co.uk/Juniorwk07fly.htm

Antony

If you are interested, but do not have a 12, then let me know and we can see what can be achieved.

Barry/Bernard,
For those that were not there this year can you explain what that means?  Was there not a third day at Hunstanton this year?

Antony

The full minutes of the AGM will be in the next mailing, about 2 wks from your doormat.  They do not always carry the after meeting discusssion, so in the interests of those posting on this forum on the subject I thought that i would share a section on weight carrrying.

The Technical Committee were asked by the then Chairman (me) in early 2007 to consider cheap and practical ways to make the heavier crew combinations more competitive.  Bear in mind that this Committee includes designers, sailmakers and regular 12 enthusiasts with an interest in the more technical aspects and is about as good a body as exists in this country to answer the questions without enormously expensive testing.

The answer:
There is no good answer, and specifically it was their view that a bigger rig would not help, as the lighter crews would learn how to handle it in breeze, and the lighter people would simply start to gain their advantage in lower wind speeds (potentially meaning more of the time) as they would plane in less wind.  In addition any additional sail area would make the boat harder to sail,

A longer boat, the best solution but regarded as impractical.
A narrower boat, as above.
More weight in the hull, a possible but controversial idea.  It is the case that the TC opinion was that to remove more weight from the boat would make the issue they were asked to consider worse.

In conclusion there seemed little for the General Committee to take forward, but I want the membership to understand that these issues are discussed pretty regularly.  Bear in mind, in addition, that the 12 already has a pretty wide weight range for a lightweight racing dinghy beacuse you can match your wieght with a hull shape and rig to suit.

I can name plenty of boats that I am either too light or too heavy to sail, some of which i quite fancy!

Antony
ex-Chairman, NTOA