Bill,

There seems to be a misunderstanding here.

The seating of the beams with epoxy or whatever is NOT considered "glueing" by the F16 class.

Actually all F16 builders use the technique of seating the beams to make the beam/hull joint as stiff as possible. This is actually a good procedure to get the best performance out of the Alu beam setup. We consider this a critical point in the F16 designs. Of course when the beams are seated, the bolts are still needed to secure the beams to the hulls.

Glueing is the technique where the only joint between the beam and hull is the glue and once cured this joint is permanent. In effect this means that the boat can not be dissassembled without taking out a hacksaw or chainsaw and seperating the two parts by destructive means.

The F16 rules state that the beams, hulls and trampoline must be able to be disassembled by non-destructive means. It doesn't state that it must be easy to do so. Effectively this means that seating is therefor allowed, glueing is not. A good knock will release a seated beam when the bolts are undone and right afterwards it can be fitted again in order to make the boat ready to sail. Of course a permanently glued beam can't be dissassembled.

I don't expect any policing issues. Glued in beams are not too difficult to spot, there are tell tale differences in beam landing design, and besides these boats can't be shipped to larger international events anyway as the boat simply won't fit into a shipping container when permanently assembled.

This is also the reason why the builders won't design or supply boats with glued beams; shipping them to the customer is just pain in the neck if not ridiculously expensive.

If think this class rule is actually one of the better F16 rules; it really keeps the cost of an F16 down to a level that is really competitive, without holding back the design in performance in any significant way.


Wouter