Fellow Swifties,
I just wanted to add some comments.
I think its important to understand that the swiftsolo is currently
expensive (if you want to buy and not build)
because it is a relative time consuming process.
A hull made in a mold could have some advantages to the class and home
builders a like.
- A production boat would be less.
- The hull would be fair. A home builder could purchase the hull and
make his own deck. Making a mistake on the deck will have less impact on
boat handling, than a mistake in the hull.
- Value of second hand swifts would be easier to gage, since the build
quality of the hull (from a mold) is
more consistant. The class would benefit from this in the long run.
The home builder that decides to build the hull himself, can still make
it competitive by putting in the hours needed to make a fair hull. Also
since all boats have to weigh the minimum and pass swing test, their is
no real
advantage from the weight issue that a molded hull could give.
Although the class currently consist of members which are +30 years of
age, I contribute most of that to the way the
swift become "known" via the wooden boat magazine. As boats get out on
the water they are likely to attract
other types of sailors and I think its important to make it "easier" to
get into a swift than it is today, and at a fair cost.
Again I am not advocating skimping on longitivity of the boat over
pricing, but if labor cost can be cut I think we
should pursue this.
Its not a qustion of "screewing" over the home builder (I am one
myself), but essentially giving more options to a home builder. Have a
production made hull and complete the rest of the boat, or decide to
purchase a production made boat at a lower cost than today. Or do it all
yourself if your have the hours.
Christian
PS: An hour sanding, could have been an hour sailing. :-)
BDally6107@xxxxxxx wrote:
Bob Lewis recently asked the question about why we don't simply go to
a typically molded composite hull and deck (Nomex or balsa core).
For those who don't know Bob, he is a top notch International Canoe
sailor from Vancouver who has been really helpful to our class (except
don't ever race him in his fluky home waters--his streak of "dumb
luck" remains unbroken in a hundred consecutive outings). I'm doing
all I can to postpone racing Bob in a Swift at Jericho to avoid the
embarrassment of getting my ass kicked by a rookie Swift sailor on his
first outing.
The following is my response to his question:
On the subject of the boat market: I think that there is indeed a
market for Swifts made of glass composite as long as they are much
cheaper. It has been our contention from the beginning that this
market exists because many sailors remain unaware of some hard
evidence that most seasoned Olympic sailors have known for
years--new foam / Nomex cored boats go faster than older foam /
Nomex boats (by "older boats" we mean boats that are six to 10 months
old). Our composite testing from Gougeon is finally going on as we
speak and will quantify the question of composite degradation for the
various samples. We believe that whatever the results, we must use the
method that minimizes cyclic degradation if we are to help stop the
slow decline that small boat sailing has been experiencing over the
past 20 years (about the time when more and more sailors became aware
of the problem). I believe that nearly all top 49er and 470 sailors
would prefer to spend an additional 33% for their boats if they knew
they could get 15 years out of a boat at the top level instead of
the current 6 to 12 months. This would be especially true for those
who are not sponsored.
Boats with carbon and Nomex cored decks would be significantly faster
than the current boats. We think the testing will show that they
would even be faster after 10 years. The problem is that a new boat
with a Nomex deck will be faster than a 10 month old boat with a Nomex
deck. If true, you would be right back to the 470 / 49er game--if you
want to play at the top level you have to buy a new boat every 6 to 12
months.
Most of us don't need to compete at the top level. We don't mind
having our butts kicked by guys who practice more, and have better
boat handling. On the other hand, if we realize that we are slow,
even going in a straight line, it's time to take up some other
sport--the choice of far too many "one design" sailors over the past
20 years. These are guys who "bought" the propaganda that strict one
design boats "level the playing field', leaving them with the only
logically feasible conclusion--they simply can't sail very well.
Remember Hexcel Ski Corporation? They went out of business about 10
years ago. They were very successful for about 10 years and hung on
for another five -- until the market became aware that their skis
changed dramatically during a single season of 15 ski days. Most long
time serious skiers have gone to the new high-tech core
material--wood. It doesn't lose its' memory. I believe that this is
right where dinghy sailing is today, however, low initial cost, not
value, will always be the opiate of the young.
Because of the design of the Swift, the significant hull loads are
nearly all in tension and therefore not prone to cyclic
degradation--Nomex or Balsa core would not likely make any difference
in performance or longevity. On the other hand, the deck, which is
under serious compression loading from rig tensions (nearly 300 lbs
each on the primaries, 350 lbs each on the lowers, 240 lbs on the
forestay and 100 lbs each on the caps--this while setting on the shore
ready to sail) is very prone to cyclic degradation. While the ISSA
may be persuaded to accept Nomex or balsa cored hulls, I would hope
that we'll always resist the temptation to ever accept any other deck
material.
The final point I would make is that last year we had 3 or four Swifts
sailing and currently we have 14. By the end of this summer we'll
have 29 boats sailing in North America and possibly 5 in 3 other
countries (this is from 67 people in 11 countries who have paid the
$595 to buy the plans). We suspect that this 25 boat increase in a
single year will make The Swift Solo the fastest growing
high-performance class in North America. We also think that the
exposure we'll get from having this many Swifts on the water will
significantly impact our growth during 2006. The RS 700 is all
composite, half the price of the Swift, been available for twice as
long and has one or two serious sailors in the US. The Musto is also
all composite, been around for several years and is in about the
same state.
If we achieve nothing else, we are determined that 10 year old Swifts
will be as fast as new Swifts (assuming they have reasonably new
sails). Some 505's built in 1979 to 1983 achieved top performance for
18 years. The Thistles built in the 50's using the W.W.II military
autoclaves are still hot boats today even though it is illegal to
build new ones using wood core because of the perverted "expense
argument". This will require some reeducation for sure. Do realize
that college kids are not our market. Most Swift Solo sailors are
over 30 years old, raced dinghies when they were kids, bought or raced
keel boats, and have realized that the big boats are providing far
less fun. This is likely to remain the meat of our market.
I look forward to seeing you in a couple of weeks. If we can get you
out on Friday for a couple of hours, I'd be glad to provide you a
Swift for the following weekend at Shilshole?
Best regards,
Bram
PS Olympic gold medalist and world champion Carl Buchan is building a
new keel boat. He is using Cedar core and S-glass (unfortunately,
they are covering it with two part linear so it looks like any
other gel coat boat). What many people don't know is that Carl's dad
Bill is also an Olympic gold medalist and world champion and that
together they run the premier, high quality home building business in
the Northwest. Owning a "Buchan home" is owning a Rolex.
|