Just a quick note to address some of Ian's concerns and to give me a
chance to put my name at the end of the post so I am no longer
anonymous :)
I think we are actually not saying different things about weight and
stength. The point I was trying to make is if you want a light boat
you have to get rid of inside space because you cannot get rid of
boat structure. The 4 burly guys on the windward float is a
situation that the L7 had to be designed to address to some degree.
So given that you can't skimp on structure you have to skimp a
little on interior space. If the boat stays light and has less
wetted area you need less sail area and thus a smaller rig, not a
weaker rig. It is a subtle but important point. I think the L7
will end up having as tough and strong an outer laminate as any of
the other fiberglass boats, there is no need to skimp on weight per
surface area because there is less surface area. Also, if you look
at the force diagram for the boat it is much simplified by the SAS
system with the centerboard and mast base directly tied to the
forward beam boxes.
The L7 floats can easily be slid in and out by 1 person on or off
the water. They are not aluminum which can gall but composite with
a very low coefficint of friction. They have large boxes that the
offset beams slide in and out of that can't possibly fill with sand
and salt. I agree that the telescoping (alumnium or composite)
sliding beams that are found on some tri's and cat's are much better
in theory than in practice.
I think we will just have to wait until more people sail the L7 and
can vouch for the nice ride. It sails fast without much sail area
up. There were plenty of boats in the race that were definitely
overpowered and wet but couldn't catch the L7.
Cheers,
Dave Licata
| Yahoo! Groups Sponsor | |
|
|
Yahoo! Groups Links
- To visit your group on the web, go to:
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/F-Boats/
- To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to:
[EMAIL PROTECTED]
- Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to the Yahoo! Terms of Service.
