[Public-List] Mast Heads for the Alberg..........................rules interpretation or determination???

[George Dinwiddie]

J Bergquist wrote:
> I have not and will not make a value judgment about who is more savvy.
> I am a fan of both racing and cruising. I know many cruisers who are
> excellent sailors, and likewise many racers who are such. I would love
> to see more cross-pollination among racing and cruising. Anybody who
> has ever met me will know this.

J, I'd like to point out that your vociferous response to Michael is not 
conducive encouraging cruisers to participate in racing.

> Several have pointed out that many boats currently racing have or were
> originally supplied with internal halyards. As I understand it, this
> makes it allowed under the class rules. I have sailed on some of these
> boats.

I'm not aware of Whitby delivering any Alberg 30s with internal 
halyards.  And, as Michael mentioned, the Alberg 30 rules committee used 
to take a very strict interpretation of the rules to the point that it 
took several years before cunninghams were allowed in Alberg class racing.

I'm quite sure that, at one time, internal halyards were NOT class 
legal.  If the Rules Committee has since changed that interpretation, or 
has given C.B. special dispensation since he acquired his boat with 
internal halyards, I have not seen that reported to the membership.

Actually, I'm quite pleased to know that the only reason that I never 
beat C.B. is that I have external halyards. :-)

The fact that the Rules Committee has traditionally been very 
conservative in relaxing what it allows is a GOOD THING(tm).  It is the 
very thing that allows a cruiser to decide to try racing.  Those who 
have unlimited money for outfitting a racing boat will be attracted to 
newer faster classes, anyway.

It's worth learning a lesson from the Laser 28 class.  This started out 
as a strictly one-design class.  The sails not only had to meet the same 
specs, they had to be made by the official sailmaker.  Eventually some 
in the class complained that this was too limiting and favored certain 
people.  The class rules were relaxed, and those with money bought 
carbon fiber and kevlar sails.  This forced others to buy similar, or 
drop out of racing.  After the expenditure of many thousands of dollars, 
the same people were winning the races but the participation was way 
down.  This was reported to me by a Laser 28 owner who quit racing 
rather than spend the money required to remain competitive.

> What I don't have time for is listening to people who don't (or at
> least have not recently...) race their boats then claim that something
> is or is not allowed by the class rules in a 2-line e-mail. It is not
> helpful to our class association to have these kinds of acrimonious
> discussions. On that point I am certainly agreed.
> 
> I am very busy and do not have time to read and write a ton of e-mail
> on this subject. There are many people (including several ACTIVE
> racers) who want to upgrade using this masthead fitting that Stephen
> has nicely proposed and designed. Part of that upgrade may, for some
> people, include leading their halyards internal to the mast, although
> as the fitting is designed, I do not see it requiring internal
> halyards as such. I have asked the Rules Committee to look into the
> issue and make a ruling on it. We will see what they come back with.
> In the meantime, let's quick bickering about it.

This is disingenuous on several counts.

First, Michael was reporting what the Rules Committee has said in the past.

Second, he was hardly acrimonious in his short email.  Your response has 
certainly been closer to "a ton of email" than was his.

Third, saying "we will see what they come back with" obfuscates the fact 
that you are currently on the Rules Committee.

> Personally, I do not believe that changing the masthead or using
> internal halyards conveys any material advantage to the performance of
> the boat, and I also do not believe that it is a material increase in
> the cost. Therefore, I believe it should be allowed. Maybe the rules
> committee will agree, maybe not. We will see.

If internal halyards did not convey an advantage, they likely would not 
have been invented.  The benefit they give is perhaps small, but setting 
up a boat for competitive racing often involves gaining many small 
benefits that may add up to a large one.  Fitting internal halyards is a 
relatively expensive modification compared to fitting a cunningham.

I hope that the Rules Committee will give such issues due consideration 
from many angles, and seek the advice and opinions of a broad swath of 
the membership, before making a decision.  If the decision is not 
supported widely, it will be damaging to Alberg racing.  And I hope that 
the Rules Committee will make any decision widely known, such as the one 
permitting halyards to be led aft being added to the bylaws.  Fairness 
and transparency should be the goals.

  - George

-- 
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   When I remember bygone days                         George Dinwiddie
   I think how evening follows morn;            gdinwiddie at alberg30.org
   So many I loved were not yet dead,           http://www.Alberg30.org
   So many I love were not yet born.
                'The Middle' by Ogden Nash
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