I'm not giving any pointers on boat design as both You and Darryl seems very capable at that as are several of the otehrs on this forum as well.
No, I'm refering to the way to get a class going. From this I can quote from experience.
A good design does not sell itself and small lightweight classes need to work extremely hard at getting themselfs accepted before moving on the actually selling boats.
A second consideration is the fact that a class needs to set herself a clearly defined goal (as Bill Roberts mentioned in the beginning) and make that one stick. Simply stating as a goal to advance 14 foot sailing catamarans will not work (not stick). There is nothing special about 14 foot. That element alone will not appeal to a broader sailing public. "Good for kids !" For years now kids have started on 16 foot boats, so not an argument for 14 ft. "Easy to singlehanded !" I know a lot of sailors swearing by their 15,16 and 18 foot singlehanders. "It is a very fast for its length !" and still slower than a well designed 16, 18 and 20 footer. "It is much cheaper than the others !" After all the goodies have been added (Hooter, carbo mast, Harken blocks etc) it will be marginally less expensive than a 16 or 18 footer. The issue is not the amount of glass or resin used as well all know but labour time and fittings. The last two are remarkably independent on overall hull length. So the F14 may loose the jib ? Saves about 600 US or Euro bucks = about 6 % or less on the total. Especially after adding the dealor margins and promo expenses any design comes out much higher than initially projected. Excetere excetera. A design will not sell itself, remember that always.
Harsh comments I know but important to realize just the same.
The goals should reflect at what the class aims to achieve and should fully run with that. No new boats over 8000 bucks. Ultimate youth cat for 7 to 15 year olds. True development class. Each of these three examples excluded the other examples. One can not have a succesful youth class and a development class at the same time. Nor can one have an inexpensive class and a development class. It is also difficult to be the ultimate youth class and limits costs significantly; Ultimate implies high investments. It is the same with any other goals. Some may be run parrallel by most will not.
Than when the goals are set work extremely hard at building the class and getting the idea accepted in a broader sense for about 3 years. After this time you will know wether the class will survive or not. This is a lot of work that somebody or a group of somebodies has to do and fully commit to for at least this length of time. Without such a group you have a remote chance of succeeding if not to say a very remote chance.
Again I'm not dissing anybody here, these are just my personal experiences and experiences of others of both succesful and unsuccesful classes. As examples I refer to Jim Boyer of APHC and his Taipan 14 comments and now also to Bern Leslie and his experiences. Also note the F18, F18HT and F20 classes in the USA. No matter how good the designs are/were, the final "decision" was fully determined by class considerations. Notice how Taipan sales revived after F16 formation, it was still the same design. Work out why one class succeeded were another one didn't. Please note that all started their efforts at about the same time with exactly the same sailor scene. Some with unlimited finances other with hardly a budget at all.
Don't count on selling many boats in the first years. Building the class in these stages will be a lot of work for remarkably few returns if any at all. After this period you still need to have enough motivation to complete the second halve with enthousiasm. Any takers. I would hope so as some other classes have succesfully negociated this ground so you can do so too !
Another thing is image. You don't sell many sports cars by advertising that one can drive one of these comfortably with confidence. This argument sends out the wrong message. It is not responsible parents that buy sport cars but the more adventurous, maybe even a bit reckless, individuals. Words like "comfortably" and "with confidence" do not appeal to the last group. (again we come at the class goal here. Responsible youth class or mean 14 ft speed machine ?) Therefor these comments will not build the class nor sell many boats. Without the last the class will not survive not will somebody be willing to spend 3 years of his or her spare time in the class to get things going.
Also realize that 14 footers are way out of the mindset of typical catamaran sailors. These are considered kiddies boats, slow and plastic. It is possible to turn this around, no-one thinks of F16's in this way any more even though they did in the beginning, however it requires a lot effort and continious proving oneself inside the class framework of stated goals. Not to mention giving it time to sink in. Being 75 kg in weight adds another dimension, "is it fragile ?". It took the A-cat class and F16 class several years to convince people that that is more determined by design skills than overall weight.
And when you think you got the whole thing described above down than you need to work twice as hard at getting things going behind the scene; Attracting builders, work-out supply networks, starting up brother classes in other area's, making dealors interested in the class, getting them to support it or even to promote it. Kick out the occasional 5th colomist/saboteur (you will have 1 or 2 of them). Support the newbies with endless questions and even longer e-mails. And loose a few hundred bop (of personal investment) a year on these efforts, miss out on alot of time on the water, all with a very small chance of recovering that. Any takers ? Why not ? Others have gone before you; it can be done and will be done again in the future. Question is will it be done by you ?
>>Oh and mate please don't hold your breath waiting for the 430 to arrive in Cal.
bern
With due respect but I don;t think anyone is holding his breath till the F14 class gets together, forms a die-hard core of leaders, promoters and class builders and survives its first 18 months including a second quiet winter time. And customers know that, expect them to wait it out at least this time. And if you fail at making a convincing argument after this then they will not sign on the dotted line even though they will have shown great interest time and time again. Drafting a rule set is only a very small part of the whole project, it is merely a modest beginning. And one of the more enjoyable activities as well when compared to the other, more laborious, required activities.
Regards,
Wouter
