Check out Chris Hart's virtual USMMCA 2002 Moth with its gigantic sprit! Yes, it's true. In 2002 we will all be sporting 5' bowsprits for the sole purpose of flying our new UNMEASURED asymmetric spinnakers. The class has voted, and here are the approved new rules:
The bowsprit may protrude up to 60" from the stem of the boat. It may or may not be retractable, and hardware directly used to support the sprit may extend from the hull, and as such will remain unmeasured.
The spinnaker itself will not be measured, although the hoist may not extend any higher than the top of the mainsail.
OK Sports Fans, this certainly provides leeway for your imagination to run wild. The best guess is that there will be new hulls emerging over the winter specially designed for the chute. In the spirit of development, there was an uproar from the members to grant designers a great deal of creative freedom where the chute was concerned. I'm sure Brigantine 2002 will see some very radical approaches, of which some will work, and some won't. There are a number of sites on the web detailing launching systems used on similar single handed dinghys. As far as performance goes, I'm sure sprits will be largely retractable, and that carbon fiber tubing will be the sprit of choice.
One big question is the mast. A converted windsurfer mast, often seen with one of the clever new pocket luffs, probably won't be strong enough to support a masthead spinnaker in twenty knots. Will people run all the way to the top of the mast in hopes of capitalizing in light air? Or will a more all-round approach be the norm? Will we see guys using the sail as a giant jib upwind? Why not? A gennaker would be legal, and if the gennaker was flat in its cut, when would it become a jib? Obviously there are a lot of questions to be answered.
The addition of the chute has inspired a number of International 14 sailors from San Francisco to get into the act. Greg Mitchell reports that there are three boats starting construction at this time, all based on the Ames I design with racks instead of wings. Watch this spot for photos of boats in progress over the winter!
