CLASS MANAGEMENT

(This page last updated 2/3/04)

PROPOSED/APPROVED DH's

Class Bylaws & Rules (.pdf format for Adobe Acrobat)

Please note that the last major rules change was 2001 - hence the date.  New rules will be posted shortly reflecting that carbon headsails are now class legal.

Measurement Certificate (.pdf format for Adobe Acrobat)

Class Membership Form (.pdf format for Adobe Acrobat)

Crew Information Form (.pdf format for Adobe Acrobat)

Please mail completed form with a check for Dues ($100) and/or $50 for the DH applicant to Class Treasurer:

Marylyn Hoenemeyer

3960 Mandeville Canyon Road

Los Angeles, CA 90049

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2004 Board of Directors: (Click on name to send email to that person)

President - Fred Young (Perfect Circle)

Immediate Past President - Jeff Janov (Ripple)

Directors (Fleet Representatives):

Fleet 1, San Diego - Tom O'Neill (Notorious)

Fleet 2, Long Beach/Newport - Ray Godwin (Whiplash)

Fleet 3, MdR - Steve Arkle (aka "Sparkle"/Power Play)

Board Appointees:

Treasurer - Marilyn Hoenemeyer

Rules Committee Chairman - Dave Voss (Piranha)

The New Schock 35 Transom

By Dick Schmidt

"we are confident that these changes will not result

in any speed advantage over the older designs.

This, after all, is the main point in an active one-design class"

As you all are probably aware by now, Tom Schock has been developing a new transom section for the Schock 35, involving cutting away the after end of the cockpit so that the cockpit floor extends aft to the intersection of the existing transom, together with formulating a new part to replace most of the old transom. Specific plans/directions for installing the new parts in the original 35s are coming soon. Nothing that is in the water is to be modified, and new boats would be built with this upgraded transom. This change is intended to modernize the "look" of the boat, to provide several advantages for the cruiser to load his/her golden retrievers on board at Catalina, and to open up the cockpit somewhat more. The Board approved these modifications in principle, provided that these changes not provide any kind of performance advantage when racing.

John Cazier, retired mechanical engineer and past Class champion, and I have been asked by the Board to serve as a committee to overview these changes to be certain that the Board's criteria are met. The primary consideration is to ensure that the new design will not provide any speed advantage over the older one. In this modification, of course, certain parts are removed and others are added, and there is the potential for changes in (a) overall weight and (b) its distribution both fore and aft and vertically. Our task was to ensure that three criteria are met: (1) the overall weight of the new configuration be the same as the old, (2) the moment of inertia (pitching moment) of the new and old transom sections are the same, and (3) the vertical center of gravity of the two designs are the same.

With these goals in mind, John and I visited the Schock factory a few Saturdays ago, where a brand new hull, but with the "old" stern, was located. This hull had been modified by sawing off the old transom, removing parts that would not be used, and readying it to receive a new transom part that had been molded in the factory. All of the old and new parts were available for weighing. It was great seeing the inside workings of this process first-hand.

John and I, along with Tom Schock and several of his employees, spent several hours in the factory weighing the various parts that were to be removed, as well as those that were to be installed, and we photographed the process (photos will be posted soon). Further, we made relatively precise estimates of where these parts were located--both in the longitudinal dimension and in the vertical dimension--so that we would have a basis for calculating any changes in the moment of inertia (pitching) and the vertical center of gravity (heeling).

John took charge of the measurements, and I did the job of carrying his bags, holding his clipboard, and posing for photographs. We evaluated several changes that potentially make a difference in performance and weight, such as the cut-off rudder shaft (strong, heavy!) and the opened space of the existing transom; these tend to lighten the new design over the old one. On the other hand, the backstay adjuster needs to be moved aft to the tip of the transom, a "knee" is added inside the transom at the end of the boat to stiffen it, the backstay needs to be lengthened, and additional putty and glass and resin are required to hold it all together--all of which act to nullify somewhat the reductions in weight just mentioned. We measured/estimated each of these elements, and their locations, in an attempt to understand what kinds of changes in the weight and/or in pitching or heeling moments would result. When the calculations are completed, we will have an estimate of the changes that result from exchanging the various working parts for the old ones.

The next, critical step will be to place corrector weights in the stern of hulls with the new design. The problem now is to compute where these weights should be located so that the overall weight, and the moment of inertia and vertical center of gravity, of the new design is the same as that for the old design. By adjusting the location of the corrector weights, all of these goals can be achieved. Therefore, we can be assured that, in terms of overall weight, and the pitching and heeling moments, the new design will have no speed advantage over the old design. We feel that this is critical for the continued, healthy development of the Schock 35 Class.

The new design looks great, in our view. It modernizes the boat, eliminates the trough at the aft end of the cockpit which, in Outlier at least, tends to become a biohazard when not cleaned, and makes the boat much easier to crew when cruising. And, while precise cost estimates are not available at this time, it should not be very expensive to convert our older hulls to the "new look." We'll have more later on this as the process is refined. At the same time, we are confident that these changes will not result in any speed advantage over the older designs. This, after all, is the main point in an active one-design class.

"Splitting Tacks" column by Richard Schmidt, From Sailing World, August 1996 "A Case Study of Successful Class Management by Owners, for Owners.

New Weight Limit for Class (14 February 99)

As you have all no doubt heard, the class has changed to a simple weight limit for crew instead of the old 9 or 10 bodies rule. This merely puts us in line with every other significant one-design class. In setting the weight at 1750 pounds, the board worked to pick a weight which was sufficiently generous that it would represent a compromise between those who wanted to keep the old rule (under which crews were getting up to 2000 pounds) and those who wanted a tight rule at a lighter weight.

Why 1750 pounds?

Well, we discussed how much weight the average crew really weighed. For the vast majority of the boats, crews actually weigh close to 1600 pounds - not 1750! 1750 pounds is the same as an average of 195 pounds per nine person crew. Many of the boats do not have anyone that big, let alone an average that size. We also know that there should be no impact on heavier crews because the boats really don’t need nine for crew and at an eight person crew were talking over 220 pounds as an average -- that’s big.

We also heard that Lipton Cup was going to a 1650 pound limit and we wanted to set a higher precedent in the hopes they would stick with the class rules.

By the way, by any measure, we are at 1750 very generous compared to other classes – for that matter, under IMS the maximum weight allowed for a Schock 35 is 1643 pounds!

By comparison here’s what some other classes allow:

J-35 – 1650 pounds (was 1550 until January 1, 1999/still 100 pounds less than us)

J-24 – 889 pounds (=178 pounds average for the boat’s 5 person crew)

Farr 40 – 1750 pounds (that’s right, a much bigger boat than us at the same limit!)

Hopefully, as you read this, you will understand that the new weight limit was well thought out and your board picked this limit not out of thin air, but in an effort to be fair to all boats in the fleet. We will continue to do our best to protect the integrity of our class as a one-design and to try to make your time at the regatta as fun as possible.