Will the water line length of the F12 be equal to its length overall? Waterline length is commonly used by some power boats to define length…On the huge SKA circuit (Southern Kingfishing Association) they have a 23’ and under class…but it goes by waterline length, not length overall…so some of the hulls end up being well over 26’ even though they are called the 23’ and under class.

If the bow of the F12 were a bit more sloped back aka “wave piercing” and had a transom that slopes forward, maybe you could steal a few inches of increased length where it counts, underwater. If somehow the "loaded" (that is including the defined designed crew weight)static waterline length could fall into the 12’-6” range (3.65 mtr) would that be enough to satisfy the group that is concerned about it not technically being 12 feet? That is, could they then be comfortable in defending the F12 as being rounded down to the next nearest foot?... which is 12 feet?

What we are really talking about is playing with words…Wouter has made a strong case for increasing the length to 3.90mtr, the numbers don’t lie. This is one of those times were it only costs a dime more to go first class (actually it's free)…why ride in the back of the bus? You can always “dumb the boat down” with a smaller less efficient rig.

By going to more performance oriented hull, the boat will allow a wider spectrum of users as Wouter has been saying from the get go. Simply by changing out the mast and sail…just like we do for windsurfing…each sailor could pick the right size and style sail for their weight, strength, and sailing experience. No one could gripe that they were being treated unfairly because everyone could choose exactly what works best for them.

To recap…a waterline length of 12’-5-19/32” (3.80), an overall length on the bottom of 12’-9-17/32” (3.9 mtr) the difference between the waterline length and over all length would only be 3-15/16” (.1 mtr) Surely a creative designer could tweak this design to get 4 more inches of length below the water line. We could have our cake and eat it too.

Regards,
Bob