I will post the notice to class members below as this seems the cleanest way of communicating any link between Cherubs and the Arup Skiff. Arup have access to a number of Cherub Photos for their use with the owners permission, the one they chose is entirely coincidental, and in this case not representative of the design that will form the basis of the Arup Skiff, its just a picture of a cherub.
===========================RELEASED 01 FEB 2011==========================
Dear Member
I am posting this to you as a member of the UK Cherub Class to tell you about a submission made to offer a boat called the Arup Skiff to the ISAF women’s skiff evaluation trials that will lead to a class being chosen as the women’s skiff for the 2016 Olympics and beyond.
The bid submission is being led by Roland Trim (Cherub class member and committee representative), and his employer, the engineering firm Arup. The boat will be known as the Arup Skiff.
I do not at this time have full details of the Arup Skiff rules, but the initial designs are based on the Ellway 6 Cherub, indeed the Arup Skiff will most likely fit within the Cherub rule set, however it is important to note that it is not submitted nor labelled as a Cherub. If successful, it will form its own distinct class. It will have its own defined set of rules which are separate from and of the UK Cherub class. There will be no heart on the sail.
The UK Cherub Class Committee has considered all aspects of this bid and confirmed their support in principle. The UKCCOA is also aware that text and images of Cherubs will be used in the bid and in all likelihood Cherubs will accompany the first Arup Skiff to the trial event in March. The UKCCOA will be reviewing all documentation to ensure our coverage is factually correct and portrays the Cherub Class in the best light possible. We have also offered members for assistance but there is no official Cherub class involvement beyond that.
As of yesterday, ISAF have confirmed inclusion of the Arup Skiff at the Trial Event. I believe full details of all the bids can be seen on the ISAF website. Please accept my apologies for not conveying this message to you sooner but events have evolved at a frightening pace!
I am sure that if you have any questions about how this bid may affect the Cherub Fleet any committee member will be pleased to help, if you have any questions directly about the bid, please address them to
[email protected].
Yours,
Graham Bridle
On Behalf of The UK Cherub Class Committee