Announcements
Star Class Rule Changes – 2005
By Bill Allen, ISCYRA President
Dec 14, 2004, 18:57

Several Star Class Rule changes were voted in by the 2/3 of the membership in the recent balloting. (See detailed results). Many of the changes are purely administrative. Several of the more significant ones are summarized below. They will all take effect January 1, 2005.

Resolution #4 – This changes the makeup of the International Governing Committee. A purely elected body has been replaced by a mix of officers and appointees. This will allow us to have past and present officers on this important body, giving a mix of experienced class officials and young members with new ideas.

Resolution #5 – The Star Class will embrace and support the 2007 ISAF Combined Olympic Classes World Championship in Cascais, Portugal. The qualifications and racing format may be slightly different than our traditional World Championship. This event will be the only event in the next quadrennial that will not be run strictly according to Star Class rules.

Resolution #8 – The Class can now try alternate formats for specific events (test events) for one year only. No waiver of rules regarding membership, class organization, or administrative procedures will be allowed. This will allow us to try different formats for Blue and Silver events, particularly in small venues, without violating class rules.

Resolution #12 - The Class has voted to change the weight limit (Rule 31.1.3) formula slightly. The new formula is:

Crew weight = ([100 - Skipper’s weight]/1.5) + 100 (in kilograms)

For some time now the class has had a rule with a formula, attempting to balance the extra righting moment of a crew in the “droop-hike” position with that of a skipper. The old formula had a “2” in the denominator, which basically corrected for the crew being twice as effective as the skipper.

The class had some technical and empirical analysis done, and submitted a rule change to change the factor. This new one much more accurately balances the righting moment for skipper and crew. The result is a more equitable rule that allows a variety of skipper/crew weight combinations to be competitive.

The impact of this change is minimal. For 100 Kilogram skippers, a maximum 100 kilogram crew is still permitted. For 80 kilogram skippers, a 113 kilogram crew is allowed (prior rule – 110 kilograms). For 120 kilogram skipper, 87 kilogram crew (prior rule – 90 kilograms)


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