John and Dave, PLEASE HELP ALLOW ME TO PAINT MY BOAT!

Hi Kris

You may be right now, but you need to read the whole post. I did not detailed the wording as the minutes are still not published. So I will wait for them to be online , as I remarked, then I will detail every aspect of it.

If not I'm talking without a reference for readers to confirm/check themselves. I cannot and wont publish the Minutes until published, but it is Important to note that this info was encouraged in the WC to be distributed, and published in a french website even before all NAs had their copy, so you'll get the idea of what is going on... full details without sensational journalism to follow as I clearly stated on those posts.


Cheers,
Martin - CSNews.

US F18 Sailors, what are your opinions on this issue?

Painting should be allowed. Gel coat is expensive and unreliable. Having an epoxy paint will make repairs and upkeep much quicker, easier and cheaper. Not to mention the ability to touch up our boats on site.

Who do I draft a more detailed letter to on this issue?

Talk about a sour taste in my mouth before even sailing the new boat!

Cheers,
Karl
Team Kwjiboat

What is the motivation behind this painting rule? Is there an advantage to using it over gelcoat (apart from the weight)?
When will the full minutes be available?

The painting rule could be given the name "the phantom rule" it was specifically designed to stop the Phantom. As some details of the new production Phantom became clear it was detailed that the new boat would be painted in an epoxy paint which gives a very high quality finish and in the matt style it looks unreal too.

A scare campaign went through the WC claiming that painted boats would have a considerable advantage. They declined to back the claims up with anything like facts.... it reminds me of this classic from Will Ferrel global warming

Paint is just a better solution, as mentioned above, its easier to repair, lasts longer and is lighter than gelcoat. There is no speed advantage at all so there is no justifiable reason to ban it.

But the same could be said for the 2 types of cloth in a mainsail rule too, every independent sailmaker in the class agrees that it should be allowed and it increases the life of the sails and makes them cheaper. So again, why would you ban it?

If there is no performance advantage to a painted boat, then I have no issue with it. The weight savings of a painted boat is a mute point. The boats must come in a minumum weight anyway and most of the new(er) boats are at or right near minimum weight, so a lighter finish over gel-coat offers no real advantage in that respect.

If the only advantage to a painted boat is in maintenance, repair, and upkeep then bring on the paint. If there are performance advantages to paint, I think everyone would be in agreement to keep paint banned.

Martin -

CS News does excellent coverage of beach cat racing news and reporting....it is very much appreciated!!!! Thus my surprise at the headline relative to the non-sensational (pre-minutes) content on spins. I can imagine the ethical challenge that someone with your resources and interest in the class to know the forthcoming news and yet be restrained from giving it the attention that it duly deserves.

The F18 rule set obviously works. The challenge is keeping it simple yet responding to "loopholes/ambiguities" and "new technology/processes" in a manner that welcomes innovation within the semi-development concept but does not ignore abuses to the rule set nor disenfranchises the class members.

I would assume if two cloths are not allowed in sails than we are all rule breakers for having windows in our mains and jibs. Technically that would be a different cloth. The sad part about all of this is that there are people who are trying to find the loop holes in the rules for the sole purpose of exploiting them thus creating all of this drama.

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