A Designers View:

Paul Bieker , 14 Designer/Builder from Seattle, shares his thoughts on the next generation boats to the new rules.

Riggs

  The new rules allow a maximum rig height 2.5ft taller than the existing rigs with a modest upwind sail area increase from 190 to 200 square feet. The new sail plan will be higher aspect ratio, resulting in faster upwind speed and better pointing

These rigs will have shorter booms and lighter mainsheet loads than the present rigs. Since the new rig will provide much more available power, sails will not need to be as full as those in our current boats.

The removal of the J measurement restriction will allow the masts to move aft in the boat. From my discussions with members of the Australian 14 fleet (where the J measurement is unrestricted) I gather that the boats with larger J measurements (and consequently less jib overlap) tend to be quicker in strong winds. Conversely, boats with smaller J measurements (and more jib overlap) tend to be quicker in light air.

I suspect that the fleet will eventually gravitate towards moderate mast positions, probably somewhere around 5.75ft aft of the bow +/- three inches. This should give good performance over the full range of conditions.

Existing boats may opt for increasing J by moving the tack of the jib out onto a short bowsprit (which has been allowed in the rule proposal for this reason). However, this may require that the board be moved further forward in the boat than most trunks permit without structural modification.

Downwind, there is no limit on spinnaker area, a major change in the ground rules for spinnaker design in the class.

The obvious tendency will be towards large kites. Spinnakers will, however, have to be small enough and flat enough to be able to hang in there on the tight reaches - a rules requirement.

I suspect that this will result in moderately sized sails which are relatively flat compared to the current ones used in the class.

These new rigs will be tougher to sail on the tight reaches, but should provide plenty of good times on the leeward legs!

The transition to taller masts is likely to be coincident with a wholesale change to carbon masts, since the weight of the new rigs built in carbon will be about the same weight as the present aluminium rigs, or perhaps less. Crew weight in Fourteens is not as critical as in most classes, however, I would say that optimum crew weight with the present rig is somewhere around 330lb (23.5st). Judging from that, the optimum crew weight for mixed conditions with the proposed rigs should be around 360lb (25.75st).

Hull Shapes

In the past, designers have had to incorporate a significant amount of flare into the sides of the boats in order to get the gunwales near maximum beam aft of the chainplates. In the interest of reducing hull weight and resistance in waves, I believe that hulls designed under the new rule will tend to be narrower at the gunwale level than existing hulls. As the forebody becomes more fine, however, the boat will show an increasing tendency to nose-dive in waves.

I suspect that it will take some time to determine the proper forebody proportions for seakeeping and good speed. Another change is a reduction in "rise of floor" by 4in. This is a reduction in the chine beam at midships.

Under the present rise of floor measurement, designers have tended to distort the hulls around the measurement points.

Another reason for the change is that it takes our class to a middle ground between the International 14 and Australian 14 rules in order to facilitate a future amalgamation of the classes. A boat built with a narrower waterline beam will tend to be bit quicker upwind, especially in heavier air. Care will, however, have to be taken to give the boat sufficient buoyancy to avoid sitting too low in the water in light winds.

   The increase in maximum beam to six ft will give a modest increase in the power-to-weight ratio, resulting in earlier transition from displacement to planing mode. Since this will increase the proportion of sailing spent in planing mode, the hull shapes will probably be oriented a bit more towards planing. This means the new hulls will have somewhat less rocker and slightly wider, more powerful sterns.

Since most regattas are spent in mixed conditions, however, new hulls will have to be competitive with the existing hulls in light wind and consequently, the actual changes to rocker and section shapes will most likely be subtle rather than dramatic.

Construction

The most important aspect of the new rules is that it removes both of these restraints on hull structure. This will allow designers and builders to devise hull and interior configurations to suit modern construction techniques. The result should be lighter, stiffer, stronger and less expensive hulls.

I look forward to the flow of creativity which will be released by the removal of these restraints.

Handling Characteristics

Upwind, boats built or modified to the new rule will be faster and easier to sail. Mainsheet loads will be lighter and hence sailing in gusty conditions should be a bit less work for the helmsman.

On tight reaches the boats will be a bit tougher to sail than the existing rigs. However, when most of the fleet makes the transition to the new rigs, this just means that the reach marks will be set at somewhat lower angles.

On leeward legs boats with the new rigs will be quite a bit faster. However, the taller rig will tend to force the boats to sail with their bows a little closer to the water and hence they will require a little more attention in breezy, lumpy conditions.

Paul Bieker, Technical Adviser to the U.S.I.F.A.,
Rip Tide Design,
5301 Shilshole Ave NW,
Suite 200, Seattle,
WA 98107,
USA. Tel: +206 789-7165 fax: +206 789-7865

Photo's from the Maiden Voyage of Bieker II Hull #1, taken on Puget Sound near Seattle

This is the prototype for the new International 14 design by Paul Bieker in Seattle, USA. The boat is the first American I-14 to be designed to the new 14 class rules and represents a step towards a truly skiff type craft.

  Kris Bundy, US I-14 President and Past National Champion, and Jamie Hanseler finally hitting the water! The hull and foredeck of the boat is built using a Klegecell core with carbon/E-glass/epoxy skins. The deck is honeycomb core with carbon skins. The rig is a modifiied Bethwaite rig with an aluminum lowermast and a carbon/eglass topmast. The sails were designed and built by Ian MacDiarmid in Sydney.  At the dock at Shilshole inspecting their workmanship.
The photos were taken during the April 9 maiden voyage of the new boat on the waters of the Puget Sound off Seattle. The winds ranged from 8 to 15 knots with mild seas.

Very stylistic! Looks like Paul got the hydrodynamics right.