Well,

The are some things to be said for those class rules that enforce garanteed floatation.

With respect to the F18 and other classes the boats are weighted before racing and reduction in weight that might be from removed floatation will void the boats race permit.

In some boat type like the Taipan the floatation requirement is satisfied by having foam bulkheads instead of timber or glass bulheads. It is pretty hard to remove those without losing hull integrity.

The fact that those bulkheads are made out of (glassed) foam blocks is the direct result of the Class rules.

In short when designers are faced with a garanteed floatation rule as the one in the F18 rules than they tend to try and incorporate that in the overall design as a element that does more than just take space. Of course not always. Hobie Fox is an exception.

Also from the perspective of the builders they have to sell a fully compliant boat and they can't really know wether a buyer will race to boat or not. Ergo they can't assume that the boat will never be measured and checked for compliance. They will then always assume that it will be measured and checked and be forced in practical sense to sell the boat with floatation.

Of course the class needs to take this rule up in her compliance checks / pre race checks. I know that the F16 will do that. We don't have the rule on having inspection hatches for nothing do we ? I know that we will have a serious word with the builder who sells boats which are not compliant with rule B.1.2.

Can a second hand boat builder be absolutely sure ? Only when teh boat has a current measurement certificate. But even then the buyer must check these things for himself. And when lacking floatation he or she can add it him or herself. Nothing is full proof.


With respect to laws protecting the "ignorant"
Well yes there are. the CE (Communion European) is one of those quality marks that concerns herself with issues like these in all areas and products. I haven't looked into the US version yet but I'm sure that I will soon enough after we that CE norm sorted out.

All buyers have to do is look for these marks. For example All Hobie Tiger owners will be able to find such a metal plaquette or sticker on their beams or hulls that deplays boat information and the CE logo.

Wouter