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While the debate is interesting "which rig is faster... " Light A cat verus heavy spin cat...
How about a light spin cat ?
Ah... I knew you would rise to the bait Wouter.
You are focusing on the qualities of the boats.... (I should not have used heavy in my desription of the N17.)
From what I have observed... sailors who factor racing class heavily into their boat choice equation are probably looking at the immediate racing scene in their region. They recognize that everyone has to buy into the same boat in order to get what they want out of their racing hours..
Sailors who are looking at the flexibility and fit of the boat to their kind of sailing are less concerned about a racing scene and so strenght of the racing class drops well down on the list of priorities.
For example We have four Taipan's on the bay within 20 miles but have gotten no more then two out at the same time and that is but once. (three live on the same beach) Is this a class?
To me.... the term racing class describes the people and their commitment to racing more then the boat. The Bristol A class does their thing on tuesday nights. the Mid Atlantic Div 11 Hobie 17 class does their thing on weekends. These racing classes are very clear on exactly what they do.
The Bristol fleet races A cats on Tuesday nights. Period!
The Div 11 H17 fleet races H17's on 6 weekends a year. Period!
This commitment is the most important factor in the term RACING CLASS. it's the people and their shared commitment... not their shared boats that is the essential ingredient of a succesful racing class.
So, Bob Hodges is very clear about what his Southern A class needs to do... Identify what the commitment is of the A class sailors outside the existing areas of strenght and support that commitment when that's possible. Perhaps some of those sailors don't care about the "racing A class"... just like my local Taipans dont care... That's fine ...... its just a tough call for Bob to make ... because everyone is brainwashed to say... "Oh Yes... racing class is very important to me... Yes I will support the program" ... when really.... its down on the list and they value other priorities when push comes to shove. (nothing wrong about this either... its the way it is)
I recently looked back on my notes from Stuart Walker's talk with respect to resentment in a class. Once you get people organized and on the same page with respect to their commitment... Then you have to manage Stuarts resentment notion. Else... things can quickly fall apart.
