I-14 B6

[roland_trim]

There are so many ways to do this, especially if you are designing a stick from scratch.
A photo of the rig that has gone sailing would be more fun to speculate about?

[Stuberry]

This is the system on the 5oh:

[phil_kirk]

Yes so more holes in the mast and more string inside it which probably ballances out the cap shrouds removed from the outside.
More fiddly to rig a boat too!
The gains are starting to look smaller.

I think reducing windage is an important aspect when moving faster than say 12-15knots.  On saturday when planing down wind, I could hear the sound of the air rushing over the rig and thought that's slowing us down.

[dave_ching]

Very interesting!
There is deffinately something that all good designers do that looks so simple yet is clearly very difficult to acomplish.
They make combining something quite sysmic in its ability to break new ground with the ability to do something that doesn't appear to radical.
Basically they improve everything a little.
I have seen the bow thing done before and will depend on trim and sea state to work effectivly.
But it is gain with little downside.
The rig is more interesting and I think the devil is in the detail.
If you think of a mast as a stick with a taper itprobably wouldn't work but I am sure he will do some clever things with layup and shape.
All very clever.
I am not generally a big beleaver in looking at the badge but it is a very good badge.
p.s.
14's currently cost how much?
1 of those for each member of my family and we are in house buying teritory.
If we could afford to sail one of those Lara wouldn't be too light she'd just need to bring her wallet sailing with her.

[JimC]

14's currently cost how much?

I don't suppose a Cherub would be very different if you ordered a ready to sail boat with a full grand piano finish, and all the adjustable everything gear fitout the 14s have...
The adjustable everything was once explained to me by a 14 sailor as "OK you can't adjust all that stuff in the middle of the race, but it does mean you can do a complete resetup between races if the weather changes"... Sooner them than me: all that dosh for once in a blue moon, but then I have the simplest and lowest budget new rules Canoe in the world, so what do I know.

[roland_trim]

so what do I know.

A fair amount of good stuff :-)
(Can't find the back-rub smiley)

[Phil Alderson]

I think that one of the things that the full adjustability gives you is the ability to find settings quicker you can go for a sail, make some changes and quickly get an idea of what change makes what difference to the feel of the boat.
This should make it to know when to change gears, and what to do for a given behaviour of the boat. Whereas with a non adjustable boat, you go for a sail, it does not feel right, so you make a change for the time out sailing when the weather has changed, and it is more difficult to not know what did what.

Having said that it is a lot extra to spend on a boat, just to get that ability.

For the single spreader rig, as I recall there was at least one, or possibly two at the Europeans, I have seen pictures but can't find them now.

[Graham Bridle]

Is this what you are looking for ?

http://www.asnquiberon.com/wp-content/gallery/european-i-14-2010/6.jpg

Note how high the hounds are, this one doesnt have trap wires to the masttop, just limits the amount of unsupported top section, well its supported by the leach of the mainsail I guess; all seems ok to me until the gybe where the crew gets it right and the helm gets it wrong. But thats never happenned in my boat so we'd be OK

[Ben Howett]

That was the boat I was referring to earlier  - there are 2 currently on the water of that design (Possibly more in build or on the water since I last looked) but I don't know whether they both went with the single spreader rig.

Interesting that the solid flairs are still considered the way to go by some given our fleets mass exodus towards racks in the last few years.

[Phil Alderson]

Cheers Graham, that was the one I was thinking about.
I am not sure about the solid wings either, although when you watch a 49er relaxing pre start they do sort of make sence.

[JimC]

Aerodynamic drag is another factor: the scaffolding and so on is pretty  poor for that. On the othe hand of course there's less wave/spray impact. But the aero drag is a constant, the wave impact isn't. Quite how you work out the best compromise between factors like that is beyond me.

[roland_trim]

As a 3rd rate sailor, moving from the slug to E5  I only miss the flairs when the racks hit the water to windward.
The wings gave a remote second chance of redemption from a prolonged swim. The additional flexibility from having the racks means that if I was doing it over again it'd be racked as well.

[Will_Lee]

There is another issue: 14s with racks gain less than cherubs with racks, so it should come as no surprise that the issue is more open for them than for us. That is, the gap is less in a 14, so there is less to gain by having racks (you can't go inside the racks either).

Also racks are easier to build if you are a home builder, but mean more components if you are a production builder. Another pressure to have flares ina  14 and racks in a cherub. Its pretty finely balanced for both though.

[phil_kirk]

It's easier getting into a racked boat after a capsize if you can get in between the racks and the hull.   

Read: i haven't got the knack of doing a water start yet.

[john_hamilton]

they have already popped the hull out of the mould???