On the positive side, I think since F16s are more accepted in the overall world of catsailing that a lot of posts might be made on the main forum, not in the relative "shelter" (or whatever) of the F16 forum. I know I have posted things in the F16 forum in the past knowing that they will get a more supportive view. flame away
Where's Wooter? Besides all of his annoyingly successful F16 promotions he could always come up with some totally provocative political gaff when the board got quiet. Sigh....those were the days...
The class made it perfectly clear that if you did not own a boat... shut the hell up and leave us alone! You guys were special! It's a fine line between your private ghetto and debating in the general discussion forum.
So... you went off and created a SECOND separate forum to make your point and regulate the debate. (Your other option was to create a mailing list where the class pushed info out to owners).
Since those interested in sailing want the class to succeed despite your best efforts, we tune in on occasion and volunteer our two cents. (Hell... one of us went out and bought a Taipan)
Forums require content.... Content is generated by the sailors: Counting on one guy... (wouter) will burn him up.
You should try... Generating a discussion on a schedule with the goal of getting critical mass at events.
If you don't want to attend a national event... figure it out before the organizer gets screwed.
Sailing event reports.... (hmmm how about the NA report) eg... Why I should not miss the event next year. If I don't own a boat... why should I get one? Upcoming Sailing events.... (anticipation..) The people in the class and what they are doing sailing wise Class rule changes.... (what do you do about the radio transmission debate... see A class and F18) Should there be a class min weight. Design innovations and new boats coming out. Why is the Nacra better or worse then the viper?
How to rig your boat and other customization tweaks?
God forbid any one post some pictures of sails with some lines on them showing draft positions.... and what to look for in a fresh sail versus a dead sail.
Gee... that sounds like what Wouter did!... it's called class building.
Or you can take the low energy road that the F18's follow.
Your graph is number of threads. Wouldn't number of posts be a better indicator of activity? Just mention weight and that thread is good for another 20 posts. In the pre-2007 years, I do not believe that issue was so heatedly debated.
Guilty as charged. The results are posted at Regatta Tech. Congrats to Robbi Daniel & Enrique Rodriquez as this year's champions.
In summary, tropical storm Lee did a real number on the event and was part of the wettest September on record for Maryland. The storm stalled in the Ohio Valley and dumped several inches of rain the 5 days leading up to the event and continued to influence the weather during event with little wind, scattered showers, and mostly cloudy skies. As a result, the staging area was thoroughly soaked and the racers spent a couple hours each day waiting for the wind to lift. Each day, the RC push 1 race through. We were considering on deciding the championship by staging a mud sliding competition but figured Squid-Pig (what's in a name) would have an unfair advantage and we would have to hear about until 2012.
The USF16 Association held it's annual meeting after Saturday's dinner. Minutes are forthcoming but the major items included introducing Eric Witte as the interim president, coordinating the next elections, discussion on expanding the association, and accepting St. Andrews Bay YC's bid to host the 2012 USF16 Nationals in October 2012.
To add insult to injury, originally scheduled dates for the following weekend had perfect racing conditions.
I know my own visits/posts to the board went way down once I learned how to sail the boat. Not that I know everything by any means, but when you get to the finer points, its harder to express and learn in a forum.
Also, those old posts are a good source of information if you do a search. Many topics are already covered, so there is no need for a new thread.
Also, in my own club, most of the new F16 people are converts from other/larger boats, so they are already well along the learning curve.
Finally, just my .02 on the occasional arguments going on in this forum...it's part of the reason I joined the class and bought a F16. After reading the forum for a while, I thought "these guys are just ornery enough to make this F16 thing happen...."