The J/109 Class Association Forum

Now that the NAs are over, I would like to start a discussion about class requirements for participating in championship events. At the NAs, owners had to:
-- Sign a sail declaration, and get their sailmakers to do same.
-- Deliver their boat to a mooring for inspection
-- Deliver their spinnakers and, for selected owners, their jibs to be measured on the lawn
-- Ask their crew to submit to the ISAF competitor classification system
-- Ask their crew to appear together for weigh-in... with photo ID.
-- Miss the 'round the Island race or practice time or a day of work

Question: was all this **really** necessary?

Observation: All the measuring and inspecting turned up no 'class illegal' sails, and one boat that had forgotten to bring their propane tank.

Disclaimer: We decided not to do the NAs because we had an opportunity to crew on a 12-Meter in the first half of the week, and given that we could do one or the other but not both, the fun-to-hassle ratio was better for the 12-Meter.

One other owner has told me that entry requirements were the deciding factor in their not racing.

So please discuss:
-- if you did the event, do you think that all the entry requirements affected the end result? were they as onerous as they appeared? Did crew weight make a difference in the results?

-- did you not do the event because of the hassle? If a future championship were in your area, would similar requirements deter you from participating?

-- should the class be in the business of inspecting for compliance, or should written, signed declarations and our word as gentlemen and ladies be good enough?

[Posted by: Dan Grossman
]

It wasn't much of a hassle at all. Weigh in took about 10 minutes, and it's always nice to say hi to the folks from J Boats, so the 15 minute sail measurement process was a pleasure. Inspection took about 10 minutes after waiting 10, and nice to say hi to those guys, too. I am all for these not-so-onerous requirements for major regattas, such as NAs, Worlds, Block Island, Key West, etc. Not for local regattas, though. Gentlemen's word and opportunity for a competitor to protest a broken rule are adequate in those venues. Enforcing the rules saves owners and sailmakers the trouble of deciding whether to stretch them. So it ensure fairness.

[Posted by: Mike Brown
]

The inspection and sail measuring was a breeze, took almost no time at all. Plus, Jim and Jeff were able to point out a few things on my boat that have since been changed and offer some suggestions on how to make changes on my boat. And it was cool to see that my three year old spin that started out at 108 sq m was now only 104.5 sq meters!

I also learned that my crew can REALLY put on the pounds during the four days of PHRF racing. We were up 20 pounds over that time, came in only 12 pounds under the weight.

I also learned that advertising is allowed on the boat. I thought that our class rules stated that we were Cat A, so there could be no splashy ads. I really liked the huge logo for the SLAM clothing line, complete with the little R for registered trademark that Saykadoo had on their main sail. Now that I know that I can put advertising on my boat, that should go a long way in helping to defray the yearly sail costs. Very cool.

I guess I also learned that I really should be protesting every single rule violation. For example, when I was approaching the weather mark and Mojo tacked in front of me and before they could complete their tack I had to come up above close hauled to avoid hitting their transom, well, I should have protested. And when Saykadoo tacked in front of me at the weather mark inside the two boat circle, and forced me above close hauled, I should have protested them too. But man, that free Mount Gay was calling, and I figured that I was not in a duel with them for a top three finish, so why pull the flag. Now, I have learned from Mojo that you ALWAYS protest, even when you are not in the running.

So all in all, good time, not too tough for the check in, and I learned good lessons (especially from Mojo) on what the corinthian spirit is all about!

Look we all want to race one design, to have that you need to keep a level playing field. In any major event weigh-ins are the norm they don't take a lot of time if you organize your crew to be there and they don't have to all be there at once. Key West Race week and all major events do. I did the woman's keel boat one year and only three of us could do all week so we had to get everyone weighed in as they showed up. The committee was great about it. As far as sail measurements go, great they all measured in and they should this is a fairly new class. Now you don;t have to get them measure again for a while. As far as protests go even if you are not in the top running don't let someone foul you so they can win!! That's not fair either to any of the competitors. Let's all get used to measurements and weigh in's personally I'd like to see some Europeans come over and compete and we need to be as professional as possible to get them. Maybe the reason everything went so well is everyone knew they had to mind their P's & Q's they were going to be inspected. I was at the Melges Worlds 2001 and every boat (87 of them) were measured and weighed and every sail not already measured was.(till after dark with a flash light!! that was me and John) The laser worlds every boat inspected and every sail, I'm talking 300 just the week of the masters I helped on all but the guys I knew. So don't complain about an afternoon on the front lawn of the NYYC that was easy. It is part of keeping a one design ONE DESIGN, now that said let's go racing.

[Posted by: Trisha No720s
]

I suppose the best thing about an event like this is that it forces you to strip everything off the boat and just keep the bare essentials, right Trish?

We are about 4 inches further out of the water than we were at BBR last year after doing the NAs. Who knew (besides you Trish)...