Going back to Willothewisps point - Whats wrong with parent and child crews? What can be better than enjoying a great sail with your youngster on board? - Or are we saying that the 12 is only for 20 somethings that have eaten too much lard and want the rules changing just for them?
Come to think of it...
16 to 24 stone covers a very wide range of weights, and lets face it we all need an incentive to keep the kilo's off. A parent and child crew comes in at say 17st, A parent and teenage crew maybe 21st, a couple of teenagers, 20st, Husband and wife 14 st and 10st, 24St. You and your mate maybe a bit more but in the right conditions who knows..
If you take your sailing and the class seriously then can you really expect the class to grow as you and the rest of Britain put the lard on? If people are getting fatter then keeping slim is an advantage to you within the class, change yourself not the boat.
There are still plenty of people out there that fit the weight criteria, but the demographics mean that younger people are getting fewer - a boat that requires more finesse and less grunt then ( a boat just like the N12 ) should put us in great position to catch families with kids, older sailors, sailors from the fairer sex, and even the odd larder that has done some serious training to put him in with a chance.
Sean C
Come to think of it...
16 to 24 stone covers a very wide range of weights, and lets face it we all need an incentive to keep the kilo's off. A parent and child crew comes in at say 17st, A parent and teenage crew maybe 21st, a couple of teenagers, 20st, Husband and wife 14 st and 10st, 24St. You and your mate maybe a bit more but in the right conditions who knows..
If you take your sailing and the class seriously then can you really expect the class to grow as you and the rest of Britain put the lard on? If people are getting fatter then keeping slim is an advantage to you within the class, change yourself not the boat.
There are still plenty of people out there that fit the weight criteria, but the demographics mean that younger people are getting fewer - a boat that requires more finesse and less grunt then ( a boat just like the N12 ) should put us in great position to catch families with kids, older sailors, sailors from the fairer sex, and even the odd larder that has done some serious training to put him in with a chance.
Sean C