I'm really enjoying the goofy weight math, and I'd like to play!

Let's see .....

(Goofy math One) The average American male weighs 185 pounds and the average American female weighs 163 (we'll say 165 just for giggles). Since there's about a 50/50 mix of the two, it follows that the average American weighs 175 pounds.

I've observed that the Express is the most fun to sail with 4 to 5 people. Any more and they're just meat. Any less and there's a competitive disadvantage. So, for this math problem, we'll pick five. Five average Americans would weigh 875 pounds. Move away from that number and you'll bias in favor of something other than the average (very un-American!).

(Goofy math Two) One of the most successful one design keel boats of all time is the J24 (the boat everyone loves to hate). The J24 dry weight is 1270 Kgs. The J24 class rules allow a maximum crew weight of 400 Kgs. This yields a ratio of about 31.5%. Taking the Express 27s dry weight of 2450 pounds, the J24 class equivalent crew weight would be ..... tada ..... 771.5 pounds! Not suggesting we lower our class weight, but math applied to a successful class would certainly seem to support it.

(Summary Discussion) I own hull #93 and sail one design at the Detroit NOODs. I weigh about 195 lbs. I sail with two of my buddies who weigh about 280 pounds each and a female doctor bud who tips the scales at (maybe) 115. I think we're pretty competitive, but maybe that's just my ego talking.

You can 'prove' just about anything you'd like with numbers ... that's why politicians use polls and percentages so willingly.

The boats are fun to sail as the rules exist now. Used boats are not sitting on the market, so there's no indication that something needs fixing. No matter where the number is fixed, someone will be able to complain that it biases against them. Part of any boats challenge lies in overcoming any weakness in your program.

Thanks for playing!

Bob Harvey (do I win any kind of a prize?)