Fellow Swift Solo Sailors:
As many of you know, I have proposed that our class rules should be written
such that either:
(a) boats built with the use of CNC technology should be prohibited or
(b) alternatively, some different measurement rules should be used for
boats built without the use of CNC machinery.
These are the reasons why I have made this proposal:
1. Bram has not provided us with plans to build our Swift Solos.
Plans are lines drawings that show a hull in three views--profile
view, plan view, and body plan view. They are typically provided on mylar that
does not change shape with temperature and humidity or else as CAD files.
These
drawings enable a builder to check his measurements as he progresses with the
construction of his boat. Without plans we cannot check our measurements as
we build our boats.
2. In lieu of plans, Bram has provided us with station templates printed on
paper.
Station templates are typically made by either (a) drawing plans out
full size and taking measurements from them or (b) a computer process if a CAD
file is used.
The paper templates provided by Bram are subject to changes in both
size and shape as a result of humidity and temperature changes. The paper
templates are also subjected to some moisture when they are glued down to cut
out
the mold stations and will ultimately produce construction problems such as:
(a) the mold stations are not the precise size and shape that
they should be
(b) the mold stations are not perfectly aligned,
(c) the jig is not fair
3. Any errors resulting from the use of paper templates will produce a jig
that is not fair.
The only ways to fair a hull built on an unfair jig:
(a) fair the hull before glassing,
(b) fair the hull after glassing by building up low spots with
fairing compound,
(c) some combination of (a) and (b).
(a) Fairing the hull before glassing reduces the core thickness and
weakens the hull.
Western Red Cedar is a very high density core material, and its weight
and the class rules prohibit using a core thickness greater than 1/4".
Sanding an already thin core material reduces stiffness that is obtained
through panel thickness.
(b) Fairing the hull after glassing by building up low spots with
fairing compound adds otherwise useless weight to the boat.
Large amounts of fairing compound increase the weight of the hull
needlessly. This weight could be better used to strengthen the hull.
4. A boat built from a jig constructed from paper moistened with glue and
then cut by hand with a jig-saw pales in comparison with a boat built from a
jig
cut with CNC machinery.
A blind man with a CAD file and CNC machinery could produce a jig far
superior to one produced by a skilled craftsman with 20/20 vision using
moistened paper as his pattern and cutting the wood with a hand-held jig-saw.
www.fabricam.com has a very good picture of a CNC router table. Can
your glued paper mold stations and jig-saw compete with this equipment
available to Patrick Owen and John Vinkemuhler of VMG Skiffs?
5. Bram claims that the use of CNC machinery to produce bulkheads, mold
stations, transoms, and misc. would be a service to the class, and to deny the
use
of CNC machinery would be a disservice to the class.
Would it not be a better service to the class to level the playing
field by either (a) allowing ALL builders to use CNC machinery, provide them
with
the mylar templates, CAD files, etc. or else (b) not allow the use of CNC
machinery by any individual or certified builder.
6. The use of CNC machinery by certified builders only starts the class down
the slippery slope of a class dominated by certified builders.
This would move the building process one step at a time out of the
hands of class members and pave the way to allowing design and construction
changes that could obsolete hand crafted boats.
7. Bram touts his concern with fairness and foiling "cheaters" who might try
to gain an unfair advantage by altering his design.
Bram apparently fears that there are some or many among those
approximately 50 constituting the Swift Solo class building their own boats who
would
use "builder error" as a cover for redesigning his Swift Solo and thus build a
more competitive boat.
Fairness dictates that the approximately 50 people who have
purchased plans at the cost of $575.00 should be allowed to build competitive
boats
that are equal to those built by his certified builders.
8. The unfair advantage definitely goes to the certified builders who are
allowed to use CNC machinery.
We, as individual builders who are denied plans and/or measurement
templates with which to check our hand crafted boats cannot hope to achieve the
precision and accuracy of computer driven machinery. Bram's subjective test of
allowable "builder error" might force sailors who would otherwise build their
own boats to purchase boats from his certified builders at several times the
cost of building their own boats, thus destroying an aspect of the class that
first attracted us to it; otherwise, why else would we have paid $575.00 for a
set of plans (which we have not yet received)?
Alternatively,
#1. If the class feels that CNC capabilities should be allowed,
then CAD files of the plans should be provided to ALL builders who have paid
for
plans, not just to Bram's certified builders,
OR ELSE
#2. Different rules should be used to measure the dimensions of
non-CNC boats so they can be as well built as their CNC counterparts through
fairing of the jigs upon which they are constructed before they are built.
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