Merlin Rocket Owners Association statement on Aeroweb Sails
by Louise Johnson, MROA Chairman 17 Feb 2011 13:44 GMT
This statement is issued to help clarify the recent discussion over the use of Aeroweb sails in the 2011 Sail Juice series.
In June 2010 the MROA Committee received an enquiry regarding the use of Aeroweb sails. The issue was discussed by the Committee and we advised that our view was that tape drives were in contravention of our secondary reinforcement rule (rules 10(b) and 10 (c)). This view was subsequently confirmed by the RYA Technical Committee.
In November 2010 the Committee wrote to all the principal sail makers to inform them of this decision. Mindful that we are always looking to encourage healthy development within the Class, the Committee at the same time asked the sailmakers for their input into our sail construction rules, with a view to allowing Aeroweb and similar technologies in the future, subject obviously to the approval of any proposed rule change by our Committee and the RYA.