All I'm trying to point out is that the rules are there perfectly clear for anyone to read or take action on. It is not up to the class association to police measurement issues.
The measurers measure the equipment and report what they find. It is up to the individual sailors to protest on any findings. This is where the process has fallen down.
You cannot blame the class rules as Macca is doing. They are fine. If there is a problem with the Shockwave or the SI sails or anything else. Then someone has to be the "bad guy" and file a protest. Forget the were all friends and no one wants to make enemies, these guys were cheating. What's worse?
It's not the fault of the class rules or the race commitee or the f18 council. It's the fault of every individual skipper who allow cheating to go unpunished.
The Class measurers are paid to do exactly what you say they are not... They are there to measure and approve equipment submitted to them. What if I asked my local measurer to certify my new 3.2m wide F18? should he issue the certificate or after measuring it to be outside the rules should he tell me to get the hacksaw out? Sure the sailors have a responsibility to ensure their equipment is legal as it is also their right to question another teams equipment. But to do it on the second last day of a Worlds?? when you have been aware of it all week?
The class rules currently have several areas that are allowing issues to arise and they will continue to happen. What should be resolved (apart from the holes in the rules) is the process that class takes in these cases. I suggest that the Balaton affair was a perfect case in how not to do it.
The shockwave issue was raised at a TC meeting and not used as a weapon during a regatta, I know this because I was the one who brought the matter to the TC and presented it. That approach was not impacting on the results of an event and it was resolved in a way that rightly or wrongly protected the owners investments. This was the correct way to handle such an issue that was not really performance related (same as the SI sails) but more a heads up that there needs to be more attention paid to some areas.
