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FOOTY Class R/C SailboatThe new rules take effect immediately. They can be found here on this website.
I'll get the AMYA Footy webpage updated to reflect the change as soon as possible. Thanks to everyone for the great response and for your help.
Bill Hagerup
| PART 1 | Proposal | About | YES | NO |
| pass | 1 | rudder exception | 86 | 5 |
| pass | 2 | wind indicator | 88 | 2 |
| pass | 3a | set of rigs | 72 | 17 |
| pass | 3b | change of sail area | 64 | 25 |
| pass | 4 | radio control | 90 | 1 |
| pass | 5 | ballast density | 87 | 3 |
| PART 2 | ||||
| pass | 6 | batteries | 47 | 44 |
| pass | 7a | rudder proposal | 55 | 34 |
| pass | 7b | multiple rudder | 29 | 9 |
| fail | 8a | 3 set of rigs | 31 | 58 |
| fail | 8b | 3 set with limits | 12 | 19 |
| pass | 8c | 2 rigs no 305 mm limit | 27 | 15 |
| fail | 8d | unrestricted choice | 15 | 20 |
This is getting silly. Attempts have been made to nudge the process along, but I must confess that they have not been very energetic: waiting until after Birkenhead/Liverpool, which marked a step forward in Footys as a world class, was over and done with did seem like a good idea – and did provide some valuable insights. Since there is now quite serious (and justifiable) unrest among active Footy sailors, I have taken the bull by the horns and written to Bill Hagerup as chairman of the Tech Committee as follows:
I am instructed by my Committee to write to you as follows. You have had about 12 months to discuss the pros and cons of the proposed rule changes. It is not the function of your team to change the rule - that is the job of the members.We are therefore instructing you to come up with either a clear recommendation where you have a degree of unanimity or else a brief reasoned case in favour of each of the available options. We expect to have the results of your deliberations by 7 September 2008. I would remind you that motions of the tech team are by a simple majority of votes. Angus Richardson Footy Class International Committee
Bill has signified that this deadline will be met.
I must confess that I had forgotten that the matter of ‘racing trim’ has actually been properly dealt with 18 months ago (a long time in Footy terms). See Clarifications . Nonetheless, I have requested the Tech Committee to draft a clarification on the position of the height of the hull in the box. I think this is implicitly defined, but it could be made clearer. In general terms, I would commend Keven Jackson’s very lucid explanation. It is not official, and I have not read it with a lawyer’s eye, but it seems to be a good commonsense guide.
THE SECOND POINT.
I would be the first to agree that the committee (which controls, hires and fires the tech committee and is therefore ultimately been responsible for its doings) has been remiss in not prosecuting these matters more diligently. There are always excuses (some of them quite good ones) but the fact remains that performance has not been up to scratch. The committee is appointed by members in each country, so if you want to fire the committee, do it through your own local class organisation. But remember that the grass is always greener on the other side of the fence and you will need a replacement who will do the job better.
However, I will do my best to ensure that matters are processed much more quickly. The last changes to the technical and administrative rules were made in response to some perfectly fair (if very bluntly put) complaints by John "Waboats" and were made very quickly. We were accused in some quarters of acting out of panic – and there may be a grain of truth in this: John is a fearsome opponent when roused – but there was a sincere desire that the management of the class be transparent and visibly efficient. http://www.rcsailing.net/forum1/showthread.php?p=38979#post38979
That desire remains. If you have questions or want changes, talk initially to your national registrar, who is your representative on the International Committee. Note that in the USA this is John Amoroso, NOT Bill Hagerup. Anything that is urgent for any reason will be dealt with urgently and be subject to an official interpretation. Please do not expect ‘it would be nice if’ suggestions for changes (as opposed to clarifications) to be dealt with at the drop of a hat. No matter how dear your idea may be to you (and no matter how good it is), there are other considerations such as rule stability and how often members want to be balloted that must be borne in mind.
FINALLY
Many if not all of the more heated debates in this forum and in RCSailing have been driven by outsiders who do not have and probably never intend having a Footy but who enjoy a little sea-lawyering. I entirely appreciate that the protagonists in this debate are all active and committed Footy owners. You may be trying to twist the rule to your advantage (a perfectly legitimate desire), but it is a genuine debate which I promise you will receive the proper attention it deserves.
OK. So how do I do as a stand in for Tony Blair or Bill Clinton?? ;-)
Cheers,
Angus Richardson
Issue No. 152 (Summer 2008) of the official AMYA magazine "Model Yachting" has
been released here in the USA. This issue is devoted exclusively to Footys. From
the list of articles below you can see the rich content of this issue:
Non AMYA-members can order copies through the AMYA Ship's Store. Cost is $7 US plus shipping. This is a great resource and all non-AMYA Footy skippers should get a hold of a copy!