At the risk of innundating you with superflous information, what follows are the notes from the IHCA Rules Committee meeting that was held in South Africa a month ago. As you can see, there is nothing mentioned concerning major changes to the Tiger - mostly stuff that has been mentioned before - eliminating the jib furler, fully battened jib, etc. There is mention of developing a high-tech
singlehanded boat, but that's some way off in the future.
The IHCA Rules Committee is made up of 5 members - 2 elected (sailors), 2 appointed (the two major manufacturers) and an Alter Family representative.
Quote:
IHCA Rules Committee Meeting
29 October, 2005
Port Elizabeth, South Africa
PROWORD:
As it can be seen many issues and ideas were aired and discussed. However, it shall be noted that no formal decisions were made except for approving the minutes from SB. The formal procedure on the Tiger panel layout upgrade etc. is first supposed to start at the time when submissions potentially may hit the IHCA table. /eo
Minutes
1. After introductions and welcome, the meeting was called to order at 15.00 by Erik Olsen, Chairman.
Present:
Erik Olsen-Chairman…EO
John Dinsdale ………..JSD
Steve Fields carrying the proxy of Mal Gray….SF
Jeff Alter proxy being carried by Erik Olsen.
Doug Skidmore, though intending to attend was excused due to illness.
2. Minutes of the prior meeting at Santa Barbara, March, 2005 were approved, with the exception of comments from EO which reminded JSD to make a submission concerning 9b concerning trapeze wires, to specify that those may be supplied using spectra, as an exception to the more traditional stainless wire.
3. Hobie Tiger sails…panel lay out/configuration raised by HCE.
a. EO suggested to JSD that a submission should be made in order for a discussion to be developed concerning the opening up of panel layout. JSD mentioned that open panel layout on some boats, particularly the technical boats, i.e. Tiger, FX 1, Fox, should be considered, as particularly these products are more often confronted with technical evolution suggestions, whether for marketing or appearance perception, in order to keep up with the times. In addition, different cloth suppliers, as well as plotters may have different dimensions, requiring adjustment in panel layout, in order to have optimum cloth usage in order to control cost.
b. Assuming a submission to be forthcoming, the discussed timeline may be as early as March, 2006, for Europe, exception of the tiger worlds in Cangas, July, 2006. For the other regions, the suggested timeline would be Jan. 2007, or sooner, if requested by a particular region.
c. Additional submission required as per allowing mylar fox jibs, as well as re-cut revised version of the Hobie 16 spi. Timeline as per above, unless otherwise decided by the Rules Committee.
d. As per the Tiger upgrades of Dec 2004, the introduction of allowing the deletion of the furler, as well as allowance of the fully battened jib, should in principle coincide with the effective date voted by the Formula 18 class, i.e. Jan 2007. It should be noted that not only would there be another panel layout, but more importantly the outline configuration of the fully battened jib would most likely be changed, in order to take into consideration the deletion of the jib furler.
4. Grand Master crew questionnaire is out and will be reviewed and results monitored till March, 2006, at which time the Rules committee will potentially make a recommendation to the council. For the 2006 Europeans, it was suggested that a Grand Master division be added to the NOR, which is due out soon. Discussion as to the ruling of the crew age for that event was considered, with no particular conclusion reached, other than a general desire to try to follow the class rules.
5. Equipment problems in the South American region: Delivery of a bare mast tube to a Hobie customer, does not receive approval from the RC as being class legal. All manufactures are requested to deliver finished class legal masts only, as well as refraining from delivering bare extrusions to end users.
As to the class/manufacture issues in the south American region, the rules committee strongly recommend Hobie Cat Co. USA to invest heavily in time, energy, as well as resources, where required, in order to reestablish Hobie Cat, as well as the class in the South American region.
6. ISAF Submission – Rule 21 interpretation, 360 degree, RC suggests to await ISAF conference discussion outcome…same thing for ISAF submissions 138-05 which pertains to the racing rules of Sailing, allowing the classes to have a default penalty without having to rely on Race Committees to alter sailing instructions.
7. Limit the frequency of IHCA rule changes to annually:
Although the intention is understood, the RC must administrate over 12 classes currently, six of which have international status with ISAF. Rule changes are dictated by necessity and by in large, the vast majority of rule changes do respect an annual sequence, with ISAF due diligence, however the current trend is to allow for more timely passing of rule changes, that is more rapidly than currently. The Hobie 16 jib halyard adjustment was an exception to the normal procedure and was deemed necessary. The overall feeling of the RC was that the discovered improvement would be more advantageous long term, due to the sizes and importance of the class.
9. Hobie 16 jib halyard systems …orientation from the manufactures: Briefly, HCE, as well as HCC and HCA appear to be supplying almost identical systems. Due to extreme loads on the jib halyard, the large # 150 Harken Cam cleat requires a larger than desired halyard rope. A smaller rope could be used, however a suitable cam cleat which would hold the loads would be needed to be sourced.
Downhaul/Cunningham kit wording needs to be reworded to specify, that the cleat MUST be attached to the bottom of the mast, with the end of the downhaul rope to be threaded under the trampoline, and attached to a shock cord, to be attached to the bottom rear of the trampoline in order to tidy up the deck of the Hobie 16.
NEW BUSINESS :
JSD mentioned that the Hobie 16 jib clew may want to be reviewed, in order to maintain ideal sheeting angle, taking into account the current extreme mast rake being raced, as well as the integrated jib traveler track. SF agreed and mentioned that the bridle lengths currently at 44 inches minimum, place the spi pole extremely low…possibly too low …if the clew of the jib is reviewed, then at the same time, the bridle lengths should be reviewed.
Hobie 16 spi update should be reviewed, should point A review on jib clew and bridle length be reviewed.
Casual discussion concluded the rules committee meeting regarding the value of considering as to whether a new hi-tech single-handed may be of interest to produce, sell through the traditional dealer distribution and then eventually develop, as a new racing class, whether one design or open. However, the feeling was unanimous that a niche is currently there, however the product should be one design.
Meeting adjourned at 19.00
John Dinsdale Rules Committee Meeting Secretary
The “new” IHCA Rules Committee
As it may already be known then Mal Gray (AUS) and Erik Olsen (DEN) were re-elected by Council at the recent AGM for a new term in the Rules Committee. The Rules Committee has subsequently elected Erik Olsen as their chairman. The “new” Rules Committee after the Port Elizabeth AGM is composed as follows:
Jeff Alter (USA) - Alter Family representative
John Dinsdale (FRA) - Appointee Hobie Cat Europe
Mal Gray (AUS) – Elected by the IHCA Council
Doug Skidmore (USA) - Appointee Hobie Cat USA
Erik Olsen (DEN) - Elected by the IHCA Council