Subject: [harryproa] Re:: folding HP inspired designs.
From: "robriley@rocketmail.com [harryproa]"
Date: 3/31/2017, 4:10 PM
To: <harryproa@yahoogroups.com.au>
Reply-to:
harryproa@yahoogroups.com.au

 

If you are talking plastic then surely the answer is yes, as there is one less hull and one hinged side, but I think there are still problems with the idea.

Without any race like history behind it and purely as boats of similar spec, it has a smaller audience and is much less well understood. Shunting may not appeal to some being less intuitive than conventional boats which tris fit with quite well.

Really its asset (which becomes more necessary to offset the handling) is speed while not maneuvering, you wouldn't for instance do that well in a short course like a mini Americas cup type course. And a short LW hull sorta undersells the speed objective for longer tracks. I do recognise that equal hulls offer simplicity, but really in comparison to getting the rest of the boat launched off a trailer with the rig up, folding seems a relatively small part.

Since you can fold both bows as much as 8ft or so of the width, I dont know why you wouldn't do that, emphasis on why. Although I have to say Id be more convinced for a shorter more manageable folding length that could shorten the LW hull 10ft (2x 5ft). That still makes a gas of a boat, and separates it well from BL as a family of HP boats.

I think Robs already hatched out much of what it might look like in the previous 40ft designs. But Id expect a cabin that would allow a person to stand and cook under the cabin in the midships WW hull, seating dispersed within the cabin over the deck. Maybe a slight blister to increase shoulder room out to WW of the WW hull. Something like a windsurfer schooner rig for ease of handling, kick up rudders and an outboard. Id expect it to be capable of more challenging seas, so some decent freeboard would be desirable.

I think what it has going for it is competing with factory boats on price, although as I indicated previously the design is less involved than available tris even in FG, I think you could push that further while being more of a kit boat. Rob is good at containing the build time and picking up on worthy however unconventional ideas. So thinking a little deeper than before the boat could be offered as either off the plan or a kit with pre-made parts.

Expanding on that, there are two very notable kit built markets, kit aircraft and kit built cars. Some of these have been really well executed even where they pick up from well known but successful plan built designs like LongEze and for cars the look alike Countach and AC Cobra. Kits come in varying levels of completeness and its here I think Robs forte for simplicity comes into play. All the shitty time consuming stuff like smooth finish and paint comes down to the builder, who probably bought in because it had the feel of a giant model kit which most are familiar with and hold few fears of.

Kits dont necessarily mean cheap, and obviously its a market that is price sensitive, still if someone was offering performance of factory tris at 50% of the factory list in a glue together form, its bound to be an idea that would raise some substantial interest.

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Posted by: robriley@rocketmail.com
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