gottagofast wrote:
How do you know i'll rip hobie for my mods. Just looking for help, a starting point. Don't understand why my asking for help from the manufacturer of boat (current production or no) is a big deal. If anyone knows the boat, it should be them.
Call it intuition - you sound like you have a chip on your shoulder, complaining that you don't get advice on your proposed custom modification of a 20 year old boat.
gottagofast wrote:
I've never even sailed one.
I never would have guessed.
gottagofast wrote:
You telling me boat manufacturers don't have/use naval architects, formulas, etc?
Yep. Most Hobies were shaped by eye and there are minimal technical drawings. Including the 21.
gottagofast wrote:
Why stick with centerboards when every modern racing cat has high aspect ratio daggers?
Because . . . that's the way the boat was built?
gottagofast wrote:
I thought aspect ratio was shape, not structure.
Aspect ratio determines thickness. Thickness determines bending strength. Long, skinny boards (like the Wildcat's) need to be very, very strong - because they are long and skinny. They are engineered carbon fiber structures.
gottagofast wrote:
I'm trying to improve boat performance, i may fail, but that won't stop me from trying. Why is everyone so unwilling to help? I'm confident in my ability to do the mods. Asking for data, information, nay sayers, unless they have sound evidence, can you know what. I will use all the information i get to make MY decision.
You can do whatever you want, spend as much money as you want, but I'm going to tell you (and I am a naval architect) that you're throwing your money away. Just sail the boat the way it is. It's unlikely you would see any significant performance gains, and you're more likely to turn the boat into an unbalanced, tweaky, hard-to-find-the-groove-upwind kind of boat.
Not to mention, you'll have all the drawbacks of long, skinny boards - like them being half-up or more (with a razor edge pointed at you) downwind, hitting bottom, and self-ejecting when you capsize (better make it so they float!).