Local
:: Reply to Peter Funke's letter regarding the Van Nimwegen Regatta :: (502 Reads)
Posted by
warwick
on Thursday, November 05, 2009 - 02:33 PM
Sir, I read the following on our 505 webpage and request that my comments on this important issue, as attached to each item, should be published on our
webpage:
This follows comments in a letter from the skipper of RSA 8481 regarding the Van Nimwegen Regatta, in which RSA 8481 retired from the regatta.
PETER FUNKE, SKIPPER 8481
"We are apparently in the wrong about the sail in that it did not measure according to the rules. I personally do not agree (that we gained anything) with this, as it would have not made us any faster."
COMMENTS BY ALBRECHT HOLM, THE MEASURER: Whether abiding by the rules makes you faster or slower is totally besides the point. Can a class leave it to any of its members (even if he/she is the president)to decide which rules makes him/her faster or slower and from that opinion decide which rules he/she will abide by and which not?
PETER FUNKE SKIPPER 8481
"Just as Paul Cayard stated in the Yachting magazine, they might have brushed against the guard boat at the start of the third race of the recent SAP 505 Worlds, but did they interfere with the end result of the regatta?
They went into a redress hearing and were reinstated into the race."
COMMENTS BY ALBRECHT HOLM, THE MEASURER: Did Cayard come to the conclusion that rules are "for the birds"? And if he did, is this opinion binding on anyone?
PETER FUNKE SKIPPER 8481
"Our batten was 25mm too high, we did not have any more sail area than anyone else, if anything it was to our disadvantage."
COMMENTS BY ALBRECHT HOLM, THE MEASURER: The rules allow a tolerance of 100mm. So it would be wise to stay inside that tolerance by say 1mm because the rules also state that it is the owner's responsibility that his sails are within limits even after they could have stretched with use over time. If you are on the wrong side of the rule, it does not matter whether it is 25mm or 1mm. And if you do not think that you gain anything, then why would you go to the absolute minimum/maximum or over it in the first place?
PETER FUNKE SKIPPER 8481
"We wanted to have the sail measured twice before the event and on both occasions Albrecht did not have his measurement equipment with him."
COMMENTS BY ALBRECHT HOLM, THE MEASURER: This is not true. Fact is that at the first time, yes I did not have the equipment because I have not been asked to bring it. The Funkes only told me that they want a sail measured when I arrived at the event half an hour before the start. The second occasion was the Van Nimwegen event. This time I had everything ready but the Funkes submitted their sail again just before the first race. I said that it is their responsibility that the sail measures and if they are sure that it does, I will measure after the race. Apparently they forgot about this and never submitted it after the race. The nationals was three weeks later, during which time the sail was also not submitted for measuring.
PETER FUNKE SKIPPER 8481
"I will put this forward as a prerequisite for all measurers to have their measuring equipment with them at every event so that something like this, that could be avoided never happens again!"
COMMENTS BY ALBRECHT HOLM, THE MEASURER:
Make sure whether it is in the power of the president of an association to make any "prerequisites" for measurers.
PETER FUNKE SKIPPER 8481
"The class rules state certain measurements of the sail but are subject to interpretation."
COMMENTS BY ALBRECHT HOLM, THE MEASURER:
This is not true.
If anything is "subject to interpretation" one should clarify this at an AGM of the international 505 Association.
PETER FUNKE SKIPPER 8481
"As Paul Cayard said they brushed the guard boat, which still puts them in the wrong and hence they withdrew from the race. Our sail did not conform to the 505 measurements and therefore we officially withdraw from the regatta out of good sportsmanship." COMMENTS BY ALBRECHT HOLM, THE MEASURER: Would it not be a better example to the class members for a president to withdraw gracefully without grudging and implicating the measurer?
Albrecht Holm
This topic has now been extensively discussed and is now considered closed. We will be activating a forum on the website in the near future, where topics of interest can be discussed directly between class members. Please look out for this and voice your opinions - Ed
