There's a good point to be made here and that is, given that the 14ft cat is generally seen as a kiddies toy, and if we want to promote F14 as a serious bit of gear, I think that the boats need to be hi tech and very fast. I'm aware that if this makes them comparatively more expensive we will be competing with 16ftrs for price but I don't think price should be a consideration. There are already any number of reasonable and very cheap 14ftrs out there so adding more ordinary boats is not going make a difference as I see it. We need to develop F14 to be sensational performance wise, the Ferrari of the cat world if you like. It's really the 'ace in the hole' we have to attract serious interest.
I think that probably the best way to go is to adopt the Intl. A class rules with maybe four changes, i.e., 18ft becomes 14ft and minimum weight becomes say 50k, sail area becomes unrestricted and width becomes say 2.5m (we need plenty of room on the start line for a lot of boats ).
This would ensure continued interest in development but without the extraordinary costs associated with open development protocols. The A's are a very interesting example of a controlled development formula, the most interesting point being that regardless of the design freedom allowed by the rules, the various models are still all very similar and stay competitive for a reasonable time and they are a very popular international class. Controlled development also insures that there are a quantity of good used boats available for entry level participation.
When you think about it, F14 is in the best position to have the most flexible formula, given that two 14ft cat hulls can never be hellishly expensive, relatively speaking.
There is a 'box rule' which determines the most efficient compromise between waterline length and weight or more correctly mass, which is in a direct relationship with displacement which is in a direct relationship with drag. These parameters control the amount of sail on a given mast height a 14ft long boat is capable of carrying and still be efficient. I have a some understanding of this because of my design experience with the 430 and when I hear people talking about boats way over 2m wide carrying massive sail plans I have a little laugh to myself because, here in Oz we've been down that road, the 16 and 18ft skiffs being classic examples. They started out with massive sailplans and lots of crew (stability) and now have much smaller but very efficient set-ups. 'C' class cats also have proved that there are limits. All this means that a 14ft controlled development cat is going to be the cheapest alternative and if we do it right it can be a significantly attractive proposition performance wise.
F18 made a big mistake IMHO. Sure it is popular but they had the opportunity to make a huge statement for catamarans, and for reasons I cannot fathom they put that insane min. weight on themselves and it wasn't to accommodate existing boats as far as I can see, as most, if not all competitive F18's are new designs. Their loss our gain I suppose.
To cap off, F14 can be;
a) the cheapest option for a super performance catamaran,
b) a size boat which can be home built in plywood with reasonable performance outcomes.
c) easier and cheaper to transport, a significant issue in daily use, but particularly if these boats are to be involved in international competition (more to a container).
d)the most manageable high performance cat both on the water and off.
e) the most sensible single handed (less weight, less cost) high performance controlled development catamaran class in the world.
f) the next Olympic class catamaran with the Tornado. (we need two)
Bern
