Hey Rhody, watch the blood pressure
First, it was Glenn who said something was unfair. Stephen just re-posted some e-mails exchanged on the Tornado forum at yahoo.
Then Carl came with some new information, not available on the Yahoo T liste at the time when the allegations about unfairness was put forth.
If it is correct, that the sails in question are indeed moulded polyester sails. The are legal within the class rules (as I interpret them). The article spoke about "a new laminate", which most of us probably interpreted as a new type of cloth.
Having exclusive access to superior materials (like a new type of cloth) would in my opinion not be fair in a one-design class. Having developed a revolutionary sail design or whatever based on commonly available materials is of course OK. The same goes for Rick's example with the Gougeon cold moulded hulls..
I agreed with Glenn when I read the article, but with the new information about the sails provided by Carl, I would not call them unfair (just expensive).
I sure hope that sails from the mould are made available after the olympics, or that moulded sails are banned in the class. The last thing the T-class needs now, in the middle of the carbon mast 'schisma' is another expensive technology.. If the carbon mast passes the class ballot, new sail shapes will probably have to be developed anyway.
The tolerances in the rules of a one design class should be so narrow that the mast or moulded sail issues never came up.
Carl: Are you sure it is cuban (I presume you mean Cuben) fibre sails based on pentex ? Cuben fibre is a mix of carbon and polymer filaments in my dictionary, which is not class legal as only polyester fibres are allowed in Tornado sails..
Ref:
Quantum Sail Design Group On to something else. I wonder if the conditions the Tornados are sailing under in this olympics are trying for the participants. Looking on the score table at
http://www.haveahobieday.com/olympics2004/results/tornadoOverall.aspshows few consistently performing teams and reports of little wind. Racing in little wind is both a skill and a good bit of luck, in my humble experience..
Rolf
