<**** on this one.
I was given an ultimatum (through back channels); hand over all remaining resources that I held of the F16 class and then transfer money to become a paying class member.
I found that both disrespectful and unwise.
If such a transfer is to be made then I expect the chairman or some other relevant member of the council to contact me directly and in an official capacity (meaning without the clause of secrecy). I also found the "handing them over free of charge and then pay for your membership" to be a bit unpolite (putting it mildly).
I offered a compromise back. I would continue to pay for the resources myself and continue to allow the class to use them unlimited as was indeed the case ever since the beginning in 2001. In return I asked for a free-of-charge membership as the costs incurred by me through the URL's were annually already 3 times the cost of a membership. Thus I implicetly offered the GC a sponsor deal that helped them pay for the class costs. However, immediately afterwards the airways went completely blank for 3 months straight.
So later in that winter I contacted my backchannel person again and asked him what was going on and whether a deal was still sought.
A reply came back (still through back channels) restating the same original demand as given at the top of this post. At that time I was having flashbacks of my measurement certificate problems (100 Euro's) and PS implied reaction of "What are you going to do about it?". So I added up all the cost that I made over the years for just the URL's and the incomplete (invalid?) measurement certificate and rounded the number off to the nearest round number; being 1000 Euro's. Then I returned my second counteroffer; the GC would either accept my original counteroffer OR pay me 1000 Euro's and accept a grand bargain where the resources would be transfered to some trusted F16 class offical other then Pieter Saarberg or Hans Klok. My contact asked me if the F16 web officer Paul Warren would be considered a trusted person by me. I replied positively and demanded a written contract that barred either PS or HS from ever acquiring these resources personally or by proxy. The grand bargain also included a written statement from the GC that would recognize my tenure as the founding class chairman. I had found that some people were downplaying my activities a little bit too much. No further need to go into details here.
The response was again silence and a while later the formula16.net URL was introduced.
Before we continue; why did I refuse PS and HS control over the last remaining F16 resources ? Already at that time I found that this father and son nexus was controlling far too much class assets with respect to the F16 class as a whole and the EU market in particular. I had already found with my own measurement certificate dispute that one person would provide cover for the other. That my connection to the F16 class was systematically and increasingly understated. I found the downright refusal to complete my measurement form suspect. My boat was declared by PS as being compliant at the GC2007 but I can easily see my compliance being revoked at any given time on the basis of an imcomplete certicate. The refusal to contact me directly concerning the final deal (despite public claims to the contrary)made me extra cautious. I was not going to give both of them a stronger hold on things then they already had. When I founded the F16 class together with Phill Brander and Kirt Simmons we all shared a vision of how the class was supposed to be. I never envisioned my own unitarian chairmanship to be anything but temporary; as a result I don't see any point in replacing my all powerful myself of those founding days by an all power other. Last but not least I seriously disagree with creating a monopoly inside the F16 class.
It appears now that John Alani is buying wholesale into the myth of me just fiddling about during the first 5 years and getting lucky. The same argument is dissimated repeatedly by HS even when it comes down to other roles I've succesfully forfilled such as the WVZ race-officer. So I also call BS on the other statements that you have made.
sure he HELPED to formulate a box-rule that several builders signed up to and it proved to be a very workable, attractive formula with great potential.
Actually, every single letter of the F16 class rules (barring the post 2006 modifications) was written by me on my computer. It was inputted and proof read by several people most noteably Phill Brander. During formulation of the class rules I was in contact with a score of people (Like Goodall, Pierce, Petrucci and Scott Anderson) and I actively negociated a rule-set that all could agree upon. This was the many months long hallway lobbying that I also refered to in some other recent posting. For example ; you can call Greg Goodall and ask him how many times I phoned him up at my own expense and for how long. Next to that the F16 class rules are based on a mathematic/physical singularity and that is why a smaller boat like the F16 is just as fast as the larger F18. Quite some thought went into the values that are quoted in the F16 class rules. It was actively engineered towards that "great potential". I don't have an university degree in Mechanical, Maritime and Material engineering for nothing !
So I didn't just HELP formulate the rules, the builders didn't just SIGN UP to it and it didn't simply PROOF to be attractive/performant. It was the result of a year long process of going back and forth between different parties while trying to hammer out a shared vision that had clear underpinnings in physics. This project costed me many hundreds if not thousants of Euro's; not to mention the huge amount of my spare time.
Anybody who thinks you can do a thing like this any differently is guaranteed to be fool and a failure.
So John, on which side of the fence do you want to come down ?
However, the class that we see growing today has come about as a result of a LOT of very hard backroom work by the Governing Council, and the faith, investment and goodwill of a number of boat builders. I won't decry the effort that Wouter at al put in at the start but for 5 years the F16 format floundered around with slow growth until the Governing Council was formed.
I rather think that the Alter Cup 2007 was the result of Matt and a group of US enthousiats, much like the Gulfport invitation events are. Alter Cup 2009 was the result of AHPC, Fun in the Suun (Robbie/Jill) and again a group of US enthousiasts. The Viper F16 was already on the drawingboard with Greg promising an official launch when I passed my responsibities on to the GC. The Blade design had been finished at that time and I had already secured the superwing mast deal for all F16 builders. VWM had already launched their Blade F16 version and I had arranged for the first sale and import of the that boat to NL (EU). Earlier I had achieved the sale and import of Taipan F16's which agents like Sven Lindstadt in Germany carried. Stealth was already on board and had launched the Stealth F16 3 years before my departure; again the first boats to be exported to mainland EU were arranged by me). The Aussie Blade project was started at the time and not much later I designed the Blade and Falcon beams together with Phill. I had also managed to create interest in far off places like Shanghai, Norway, Finland, Brazil, etc and I'm sure that I'm forgetting many other developments. Of course the last action I took was the active formation of the Governing Council where I personally contacted and invited you (and all others) to take a position in that body.
All that and more where Phill Brander, Kirt Simmons and I started out with absolutely nothing at all. In fact we were the laughing stock of the forums as everybody simply knew that a 16 footer could never be that fast or affordable lightweight.
By my estimate the GC started their leg of the race with a class running and did the GC2007 in Zandvoort (with lots of help from WVZ volunteers) and the GC2008 at Mumbles (with lots of help from the locals there). They also formalized the measurement forms and then split the F16 forums (humm). The new website was already created under my tenure but expanded by Rolf, Gill and others to the point where it is now. Since my departure no new builders were attracted to the class and the EU market penetration is after 4 years at about the same point where I left it. A few boats were indeed sold but I won't bring up the recent Dutch F16 nationals (organized by HS and PS ?). Of course several regions have formed their class associations but I know that for example Phill was the main force behind the AUS association where the format was almost entirely dictated by Australian law. I already knew that Phill was a hard working dependable man before the GC was formed; so I fail to see the other in the GC can lay claim to that success. USA association was largely formed under guidence of Matt McD and the US enthousiasts.
Of course I too think that the GC did excellent work over their tenure; but they do appear to be a little delussional when it comes down to F16 class history.
if you are not a member of something it is patently wrong to attempt to portray yourself as being part of it.
As the co-founder and the first chairman I will always be part of the class no matter what your membership listing says.
Especially so when you've actually said you don't want to be part of it!
Indeed, at this time I refuse to legitimize the current situation by requesting a membership. That doesn't mean however that I don't want to be part of the F16 class. I will most likely get a membership when the situation has been improved.
By the way is the class constitution still secret ?
my personal outpourings over what I see to be grave misrepresentation and unfair treatment of individuals who have given time, effort and their own money to further the growth of the F16 Class.
Ahhh, put a sock in it John. You never thought twice about dissing me despite the time, effort and my own money that I have invested in this class.
You are applying a double standard here.
In fact, there is not a single untruthful thing in my posting. So yeah indeed, somebody is lying here. My question to you (all) is why you are so certain that it is me ? What do I have gain/loose ? It is not me who has monopolized valuable F16 class assets, is it ? I'm not even offering myself for any future GC position or class official status. Nor do I have any commercial link to the class at this time.
So why would I lie ?
Wouter