HELP US SAVE THE SKUD!!
Daniel Fitzgibbon
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--WE NEED JUST 5 MINUTES OF YOUR TIME TO HELP SAVE THE SKUD
It appears that the SKUD may be close to being re-selected as a Paralympic Class but we need to make one final big push before next Tuesday, 8 November to get over the line.
Sometimes in life you need to fight for what you believe in. I believe that 1’s and 2’s have the right to sail in the Paralympics in a fast exciting, safe boat. From the boats being considered only 1, the SKUD is going to cater for 1’s and 2’s in a meaningful way. In 8 years my body will not be up to sailing at the Paralympics so I’m not doing this for me, I want other 1’s and 2’s to have the opportunity I had to sail in the Paralympics!
All we want you to do is send an email to the following people one email to all is fine:
Below are a few ideas that you may or may not want to include in your email, it does not need to be long, just one or two paragraphs are fine. Please keep your email constructive and remember our goal is to get the SKUD re-selected. Once it is re-selected we can discuss changes to the class rules etc.
Thanks to everyone who has written letters already and feel free to send a second summary email too!
Please forward this to any SKUD sailors you know.
Points we have raised in support of the SKUD:
· Safest solution for people with high-level disabilities
· Considerable development time and money has already been put into the SKUD by many countries. This cost would have to be repeated if the RS Venture or Liberty replaced the SKUD.
· Established fleet. Although the numbers are lower compared to other fleets with only 90 boats. This is 90 more boats sailed than the RS Venture. We already have 12-16 countries setup with SKUDs.
· RS Venture, with side-by-side seating is unsuitable (further detail below)
· High performance boat. Modern, Innovative. The 49er of the Paralympic fleet. Fast and media friendly. The country flag spinnakers make the SKUD visible and appealing to media.
· Has successfully brought highly-disabled sailors and women into the sport.
· There are a large number of Mark 1 SKUDs available, which most nations do not use. These could be sold at a low cost or donated to emerging nations for training and development. With a Mark 2 rig the boats will be competitive enough for emerging nations to compete at a Worlds
· Can be helmed with servos and be competitive
· Caters for the widest range of disabilities, 1s and 2s on helm, 3s – 7s crewing
· New Zealanders have talked about launching by a ramp (removing need to crane)
· Cost of changing the fleet to the RS Venture and developing the new fleet is not going to be acceptable to almost of the current nations.
RS Venture vs SKUD
· The side-by-side seat is a flawed design. Sailing a boat with a large heeling moment and non-canting seats, like the RS Venture, does not work for 1 and 2 pointers. Sailing a SKUD with non-canting seating is uncomfortable and un safe for a 1 or 2. The SKUD evolved to canting seats for good reason.
· With the side-by-side seating it puts a 1 or 2 pointer closer to the water when the boat is heeled and they are on the leeward side. In strong winds the sailor would be constantly submerged by water.
· In a broach in the RS Venture going downwind a 1 or 2 to leeward would be in a very dangerous position.
· The SKUD with its wide side decks and large amount of flotation provides safety to the 1 or 2 pointer helm that even in a broach they are never in the water.
· It would be difficult to see when on the leeward side, meaning you would have to share the helming duties between the two crew. Considering a Highly-Disabled sailor could not control the sheets without servos would mean they would become a passenger for half the race or be sailing half blind when on leeward side. This is not a practical solution. Inline seating is a more suitable option.
· When seated side by side crew weight becomes a critical factor. If crew and helm are not of similar weight they will be severely disadvantaged.
· The cost of scrapping our more expensive class for replacement with a similar class is not sensible.
· The cost comparison between the SKUD and RS Venture from two years ago was approximately AUS$36,000 for a SKUD and $32,000 for a RS Venture. The price of the RS has now decreased to around $21,000 there have been questions raised as to how long the price will stay this low. If there is not a large number of uptakes with the RS Venture will the price increase? What situation will we be left in then?
· If we take a holistic look at replacing the class, the different of $36,000 to $32,000 is not great enough. Most nations funding will have been significantly reduced and to then have them reinvest in a fleet that is similar to their current SKUD fleet will not work. This will result in small uptake of the RS Venture with a mixture of boats between nations.
· There are already 90 SKUD’s around the world and sailors in Australia and New Zealand have pledged that they would donate their older mark one boats to developing nations. There is a market for second hand Mark 1 and 2 boats. Developing nations can purchase these boats to start their campaigns. Yes they may not be competitive to win medals but with 8 years to the next games this gives them time to develop their sailing program and raise funds to replace their boat with a newer hulls. Comparison of the cost of 32 nations purchasing RS venture (32*21,00 = 672,00) compared to increasing the number of nations sailing the SKUD from 16 to 32 (16*36,000 = 576,00), even with the lower RS Venture price, does not measure up.
303
· The 303 is an amazing boat that has introduced thousands of people to sailing globally. However it is not suitable for 1’s and 2’s.
What makes the SKUD a great choice?
· Cheaper to keep the SKUD than replace it as it is already in 18 Nations.
· Modern looking, appealing to spectators and the media.
· Many see it as the 49er of the Paralympic fleet.
· Caters for the widest range of disabilities, 1’s & 2’s on helm, 3’s -7’s crewing. No other boat can cater for every disability!
· Proven safety record for 1’s and 2’s.
· Much safer for 1’s and 2’s as a more able person is on-board.
· Can be sailed by 2 or 3 people
· Ability for coach to be on board allowing novice sailors the opportunity to experience sailing an exciting, fast, modern boat.
· Can be sailed by disabled and/or able-bodied sailors.
· Can be ramp launched.
· Country gennakers makes it easy for spectators to identify boats.
· With the gender requirement removed it will be much, much easier to put a team together.
· With the gennaker and jib modified to furling option a much larger range of disabilities will be catered for, the furling changes will allow for 3’s to crew competitively.
· Price has remained very stable for 10 years.
· The second-hand market for both MK1 and 2 SKUD’s is becoming more established with developing nations able to start a programme relatively cheaply, especially if they start with MK1 boats.
Most cost effective option
The cheapest option moving forward is to keep the SKUD and 2.4 and introduce only one new class not two new classes. The goal of increasing fleets up to 32 nations will be reached much sooner if only one new class is introduced.
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john mcroberts
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Bob E Jones
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