Some time ago I posted a question on the old forum about the sailing characteristics of the newer A class Hull Shapes compared to the conventional.
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<br>I was surprised that no one bothered to answer my post.
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<br>Once again I'll put forward the same question.
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<br>I would like some feedback from someone that has sailed the newer hull shape and can compare it to the conventional hull shape.
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<br>I hear they need to be sailed differently and I'd be very interested to hear from the horses mouth (so to speak).
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<br>What do people think of the sailing characteristics of the newer shape?
<br>How does it differ from the conventional in required technique?
<br>Do people think there is a noticeable advantage?
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<br>. I'm curious and I'd appreciate any input
<br>Regards,
<br>Phill<br><br>

I've been discussing this a lot with Goran Marstrom. The new hull shapes could have a bit smoother ride in chop so the sail will be less disturbed, nut they have a higher wetted surface compared to the Marstrom boats.
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<br>Remeber we are talking about very small differences in hull shape, at least if you compare the part of the hull that is in water.
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<br>The Marstrom boats should be sailed "nose up" to get the most benefit from the low wetted surface concept, but the flyer should probably be sailed "nose down". Downwind I'm not sure about the difference in sailing style.<br><br>

Hakan,
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<br>Thankyou very much for your reply. I find the new hull shape and how it should perform quite interesting. I appreciate your input.
<br>It's a pity the people that have been promoting the virtues of boats like the Javelin (on the Old Forum) have not seen fit to share their experiences.
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<br>With nearly 200 people viewing this post, there seems to be others that have some interest also.
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<br>If you have any thoughts on the downwind sailing characteristics I'd be interested to hear them.
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<br>I tend to wonder how the platform would perform in gusty conditions downwind.
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<br>I've long held the opinion that a reduction in reserve buoyancy upwind is a distinct advantage in all but flat conditions.
<br>I've read a little about the design theory of hull shapes for canoes with respect to wetted surface which is only a major issue at low speed. As speed increases the wave making characteristics of the hull is far more inportant.
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<br>In a cat not only would the wave making characteristics play a big part but also the pitching of the platform because of the way it disturbs the air flow over the sails.
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<br>I wonder if the newer shape is just the beginning of a hull shape revolution or just a small advance on development
<br>so far.
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<br>It's great that we have the A class to pioneer advances like this, not to mention the carbon mast and square top sail.
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<br>Regards,
<br>Phill <br><br>

Phill,
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<br>I,ve sailed on a several of the shapes out there, (admittedly not enough to be an expert), and here of some of my observations on the ones I tried.
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<br>Wave piercing (Fox, Javelin) handles like a dream up wind in flat to med seas. It feels as if it is digging in and driving to weather. When the waves were big and long they seem to pitch about the same as other hull shapes. In small short seas, when the wave height was higher than the hull depth, it fealt like the boat was fighting it to some extent, small waves were smoothed right out.
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<br>Down wind the feature that I liked most upwind, tracking, was a distraction. In big surf neither of those boats felt good in surfing conditions.
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<br>My opinion, is that this hull shape is not a revolution, but is a definite improvement in certain conditions.
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<br>One question I have to some of the readers, is that the Water rat has dominated several big events in the US (Worlds a couple of years ago, Nationals this year, and a couple of others), and it never gets any air time on this forum.
<br>The shape if far from the wave piercing design, but it has won quite a few of its outings. Is the cost of the platform the only feature that causes it to be written off?
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<br>MATT
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Whatabout the Ventilo A-cat? Don't they export them here?http://www.ventilo.ch/A-cat.html (it's in french, not my second language). In Europe the Ventilo Cats are very common and ultra fast. I thought someone in Florida was exporting these?
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Maybe one day a magazine will do a multi-A-class boat test, and compare them side by side. One owuld think that right after the NA's or the worlds would be an ideal time, as when else would such a varied fleet gather? Perhaps the multihulls magazines would be too prepoccupied at that time with publishing the latest "Around the Abacos in a Priviledge 65" cruising-cookbook guide? ;-)
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<br>You can bet that if the A class cats were cars, all the car-oriented magazines would have tests, side-by-side comparisons, etc., as well as a detailed spec page with the various cats' lines overlapped on eachother so one could see the differences.
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<br>When i was in the process of looking for a cat to buy, I found it very hard to find good, detailed data on the various choices. I eneded up buying a boat based on the best information I could get, which was from a group of A-catters in Australia.
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<br>Good luck getting the info you seek.
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<br>littlepat.<br><br>

LittlePat,
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<br>You have a good idea. Thanks for the input.
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<br>Personally I'velong thought it would be good to see (for each major event) a listing specifying the hull, mast and sailmaker and all up rigged weight along with the height and weight of the skipper.
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<br>Then we could look at the results of each race and compare these specs to the weather conditions.
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<br>Afterall the A Class is a development Class and this way we could use the major events to gather data on the new developments.
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<br>Regards,
<br>Phill <br><br>