Those that read this forum know well what my postion is on changing main sail material. I'm on my third string mainsail and too, I've spent some amount of time researching the string sail as part of my background for my comments.
Obviously I'm pleased that there is some movement and I am hopeful that a change will be voted in.
That said, I must admit my deep disappointment with
1. the way the rule is written in regard to sail weight
2. the response to my question about how weight was determined; (The weight is based on a sampling of class legal mainsails that were weighed from multiple sailimakers, with the lightest recorded at 30.5 pounds and heaviest at 36 pounds. This provides some margin of error.)
One has to wonder if the proposed rule is written with the intent that no one would ever buy a string sail that meets class specs, or, there is just total disregard for facts.
I currently have three "string" mains. Two have been weighed and neither weighs 30lbs. Neither of the two that I weighed was built as a "cheater" main with the intent of taking weight out, as I was not concerned with class rules when I bought the sails.
Bottom line, string sails weigh less than Dacron, period. If you are not going to take that into account, if you are not going to allow sailmakers to build string sails of sensible design, unless there is a hidden agenda then why waste your time and the Association's time?
Here's my challenge - contact 3 or 4 sailmakers and ask them what a quality String mainsail should wiegh for a J/30, not what a dacron main weighs.
