Hi Will:

I understand your point that five people are easy to administer . . . and four our even easier if that's what's needed to make the 880# limit.

And as your aware, I've never been prejudice to recruits; whether juniors, woman, or other lighter people, except when they are little people forming a voting block to impose a weight restriction which favors them and all of their little cohorts.

Please note, four crew at 880# have a distinct disadvantage against five crew at 880#. Those disadvantages are associated with one of the two heavier people being off the rail through a tack to pull in the headsail. And, for the first few seconds afterwards, only one person really is hiking out on the rail.

So five people at 880# have an advantage over four people at 880# through the tacks. More of them are on the rail following the tack . . . and less of them, wieght wise, are off the rail.

Additionally, I weigh between 230 and 250, and my butt's in the back of the boat, all the time, regardless of when maneuvering. People around my weight have a material disadvantage, all the time, with the 880# limit because we present a quarter of that limit . . . in the back of the boat.

Now, you might be lucky enough to be an iternally skinny guy. But for most of us post 40 types, that's not the way nature works; regardless of whether we like beer and wine; or not.

I'm not saying its impossible to be competitive with four . . . but to pick up your point . . . simply that it is not equal.

Per your point that boats blow up with 1050#s of crew. Sorry, that's simply fallacy. I've raced with extraordinarily heavy crew; from time to time. And the only structural fatigues were associated with things that wern't engineered quite right to begin with regardless of how much weight was on the boat. Just look at the Light'n Up sailing with 12 to 15 all the time. The boats in great shape. Again, the ideal weight for the boat is around 1050#. And, its easy to find five normal Americans too fit that framework.

Further, when I weighed 165 pounds at 6' 1", I sailed the boat with six, at 1030 to 1050#. So, here's an opportunity to take the junior or girl friend. I know, I know, its an extra sandwich . . . and someone's job becomes delgated to the vang and cunningham. But for the owners, the boats are much more fun so sail as much more powerful; especially upwind.

:: Mike,

:: I know for a bigger guy finding 5 that fit in the weight
:: limit can be tough- but a weight limit is critical for
:: fair racing on our light boats. Elimination of the
:: weight limit would lead to the elimination of small
:: people (Ladies!) from sailing the boats, increased wear
:: and tear from sailing with much more weight, the need to
:: buy new sail inventories to take advantage of more
:: righting moment, and less comfortable (and expensive
:: sailing!) because most boats would have to sail with 6
:: to be competitive. Trying to find that one person big or
:: small to hit the weight right can be tricky- but do you
:: want it to be all about finding the 6 biggest all the
:: time? The Moore 24 class recently imposed a weight limit
:: for just this reason!

:: In the old days with the 1000# crew weight many more
:: Expresses lost rigs, broke gear, and even seperated
:: bulkheads trying to sail around in 18-20kts with their
:: number 1 up. This does NOT sound like fun to me! The
:: 880# weight limit is more comfortable to sail the boat
:: with, cheaper in MANY ways, and is more inclusive of
:: woman and juniors that are all important to fun sailing
:: and the future of our class!

:: As a solution it is possible to sail competitively with
:: 4 big guys- Jeff Thorpe got third in his first Nationals
:: in 98 like this. Also invite juniors from your yacht
:: club to join your team. Young kids are eager, hard
:: working, and soak up waves on the bow better than us
:: older people.

:: Cheers Mike- I hope to see you join the fleet for some
:: one design racing soon!
::
:: ::
:: ::
:: :: Please see Tiburon Yacht Club Event Bulletin Board to
:: :: chime in on re-exaimining the virtues (OR NOT) of the
:: :: 880# weight limit.
:: ::
:: :: Mike Bruzzone