At the IJCA World Council meeting in Annapolis on October 4, 2008, the class voted to adopt, in principle, expanding the range of materials that may be used in J/24 genoas to include woven ply and/or laminated ply made from aramids and HMPE. Aramid is marketed under trade names such as Kevlar and Twaron, and HMPE under trade names such as Spectra and Dyneema. These are referred to as “new materials” in what follows. You will note that we are adding more options to the current list that includes woven polyester polyester and substrate/polyester film laminate. This list of new materials does not include carbon fibre. In this article we want to give you some background and the plan going forward.
This is a major change for the class - the first involving sails in a number of years. The class has consulted widely with sailors with relevant experience and sail makers familiar with the class in forming the proposal. J/24 genoas are unique - they take a tremendous amount of abuse getting flogged on the rigging and front of the mast. Owners have repeatedly asked for ways to reduce the cost of ownership of the boats - particularly the sail cost. That is the primary motivation for expanding the material options for the genoa. However, opinions on whether this is a good thing to do are varied - some support it and others don’t.
You can read in the IJCA forums and in other communications that are circulating a wide range of opinions - some are informed and based on relevant experience while others simply viewpoints without a factual base.
The primary reason for adopting the new materials is the belief that a genoa made from the “new materials” will have a longer life as a useful racing sail that will more than compensate for a marginal cost increase. Remember to look at the total cost of operating the boat when considering the incremental cost of a “new materials” genoa, not just the sail. Only real experience will prove whether the longer useful life is true.
There are three approaches to introducing such a change in the class:
1. Implement a rule change as soon as we can get the technical work done and the change approved. This approach lets the "early adopters" get the "new materials" genoas and use them in real competition at all levels, pay the price for that and contribute to the growing experience base for the class as a whole.
2. Run a trial sponsored by the class - this would cost some money and take resources that the class could not get organized in any effective way. We would likely muddle around for one or two years and be no further ahead at the end of it.
3. Ask the sailmakers to do some development trials with the class' intent to proceed with the change if the trials work out. The resulting information would largely come from the sailmakers and still have lingering questions in the class. This approach would be limited by the investment that the sail makers would be willing to put into it without a real commitment from the class in a challenging economy. Likely not much better than 2. in terms of moving ahead.
Option 1 is the best way to move this forward and the reason the decision was made at the WCM to make the rule change effective as soon as the required approvals could be received. There is broad consensus that a new “new materials” sail and a new polyester laminate sail will be very similar speed-wise in most conditions so there is no immediate pressure to get a genoa made from new materials but it will certainly be an influence purchasing the next sail.
Next, the question of when this will happen. The World Council adopted the change in principle and instructed the International Technical Committee to resolve the details and draw up the final wording on the proposed rule change, and to move ahead as quickly as possible with getting the change implemented. Being an International Class, our class rules are controlled by the ISAF and we need ISAF approval before implementing a change. The IJCA Constitution calls for a vote by the NJCAs on a rule change and while the change was adopted in principle at the World Council Meeting, to strictly adhere to the Constitution a vote by the NJCAs on the exact rule change wording is required.
The communication on the vote by the NJCAs has been sent out with a deadline of December 19th, 2008. Once the results are in and if the vote is for Approval the class’ submission will be sent for ISAF review. Our expectation is that by late January 2009 to have the new rules approved.
The earliest the change would be in effect with the expected timing is March 1, 2009. This means it will be in effect for the 2009 World Championships during the first week in May in Annapolis, but not in effect for the North Americans in Valle de Bravo, Mexico during the first week of February, 2009.
Updates to this article as the change progresses will be posted as soon as we have more information.
Comments can be left on the Rules forum on this site - there is an open topic “Sails - Kevlar etc”
Lorne Chapman
Chairman
International Technical Committee