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RULES !

To All Owners,

At the last Champs we were so happy to have boats there that we never touched the topic of scrutineering etc.
However people are putting in a big effort to get to Plymouth and within the context of having 30 year old boats, some of which have passed through several hands as cruising boats, and which we sail on a budget, we do need to have a level playing field.

Not directly relevant to a One Design series but in theory everyone who races off the standard IRC 0.89 should have on board all the required mattresses, pots and pans, doors etc etc. and meet safety Cat 4. Those with other ratings will be based on what they had on board when weighed.
With the passage of 30 plus years since they were launched parts will have gone missing, previous owners will have made a number of mods, owners will not have the time or funds to restore their boat to the original specs and cannot see the point; on the other hand some boats will have acquired weight through being in the water or through all sorts of junk building up on board, overweight engines etc.
Maybe it all works out equal in the end, but we need to move to a situation where all boats carry the min equipment and fit out per class rules.

Matters such as black bands, tracks, etc are easily dealt with, and  I am not too fussed about the sails – they are all made by professional sailmakers and the scope to oversize by an amount that makes a difference is very limited. (the overhang of the mast and boom beyond the black bands is minimal, and a full size genny can barely sheet on the track).

The main areas where I think there will be problems will be below decks.
Most of the equipment when purchased new is expensive, so I have have developed a checklist with the corrector weights for the missing parts.
If you do not want to restore the parts to your boat, then you need to add weights.
It is expected that the weights will be lead – but other weights can be accepted if you are fitting them just for the championships.
The weights should be added per the weight plan – see the rules section of the website – or if not shown there, then as close as practical to where the missing part would be.
The rule numbers is next to each item.

For practicality I have made two ad hoc variations

Rule 7.2 The door: rules do not give a weight,so I have allocated 5kg
Rule:13 Pilot Berth: The rule sates 15kg if the whole structure is missing, but I know of at least one boat that has done away with the hinged section and kept the lockers etc. We weighed the hinged section and they came to 7 kgs each (it was a factory finished boat). So I have divided the weight between the two parts. Of course that boat also carries weights for the missing mattresses.
I think quite a few boats have removed the lining from the forepeak – the weight compensation for this is quite surprising.

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By KPALFREEMAN, ago