What I hadn't realised was that I really missed chatting and discussing sailing with like minded friends. I didn't drink too much and I was definitely in the minority. A friend of mine stopped slurring at around 22.30hrs because the slur had developed into an inaudible dialect. However, just before this inevitable occurrence we discussed yacht designs and that ugly looking but surprisingly fast new sc.......s design! I honestly couldn't make out the name of the design due to the slurred speech and yet I knew exactly which design he was referring to.
Well, since last Saturday I've been giving this bow shape a lot of thought and despite it being dog ugly there must be some mileage in the concept.
Would, could this be developed for IOM's? I guess the only way to tell is to have a go. What can go wrong...........(lots) well as I see it from a non expert, complete novice perspective the design will have a LWL of less than 1m. My current design has a LWL of roughly 930mm but the wetted hull area of the bow will be increased by over 100%. This in turn should allow me to reduce the freeboard without affecting the reserve buoyancy. Upwind due to the LWL and the relationship between the bow and hull center line, pointing and speed in normal conditions could be compromised. But perhaps the downwind advantages will more than make up for the cons. I reckon this bow will rarely if ever bury, couple this with a fairly neutral longitudinal trim should provide an excellant foundation for the rig to work off.
Perhaps, changing down a rig will no longer be so dependant on loss of downwind yacht control?
