Blokarts would now fit into the "mini" rule but I would expect them to race as they currently do with weight and configuration restrictions as 'one a design class'.

But I do think it would be fun to have an "ALL IN" Mini race at championships.

I agree. Blokarts could be very competitive with a few minor modifications. I like the Blokart trolley. It is very well balanced and has a nice heeling flex to it . The rigging is the main problem. I would pull that boom out of the sail pocket and simply tie or shackle it to the foot of the sail. Get rid of the rowlock and have the boom floating . Get rid of the thing they call the Whip, and get some feet steering attached so you can have two hands on the sail. An extra bit of carbon tube up inside the bottom third of the mast would help too. Yes you can trick out a Blokart to sail in FISLY Mini class.

I think you might get a suprise how a well set up blowie sails.
some of the guys and girls sailing the performance yachts in yeppoon were really smoking.
they now have even stiffer carbon for thier masts.
of course when you start getting that stiff you have to start sailing more like a landyacht and not like a blokart.
having sailed a ludic and a potty, id have to say that a blowie should be well up there. In our lefroy marathon this year all the reasons for me beating Andy Bates were all unrelated to the yacht.
I spent the winter living off chicken soup so my daughters could go university, whilst Andy had a good woman cooking up a storm. this gave me a moderate weight advantage
I had the advantage of weekly practice sessions, asopposed to andy not having sailed for months.
Andy doesnt realize just how close he came to winning, heres my best tyre at the end of the race. One slide , spin or hard turn and I would have been last

foot steering doesnt fit in the pod, the new ultra carbon is REALLY stiff, , getting rid of the boom and replacing with a more flexible one doesnt work , a wishbone doesnt work as well as that stiff boom.
performance blowies have a bucket of down haul , which you have to really use properly to get the best out of it. I recon some blowie sailors should spend longer racing production yachts for longer before giong to performance, but those things are just sooooooooo.... shiney and gotta have, but yes the production yachts are like racing wet flannels

Actually blokart International do sell a foot steer mechanism, but they are intended for disabled people who do not have good use of both hands.

Gizmo hit the nail on the head. What is important is that all blokarts are the same (or at least sail within the same design rules), not whether a bit of tweaking could make them go faster. I recall Paul Beckett making a comment relating to the newer model that he could have changed the design to make it go faster but chose not to as this would render the older models uncompetitive and obsolete overnight. His sales and marketing department would probably like that to happen, but his existing customers would probably not.

Arjay said...

isn't mathematics simple!
All Blokarts are Minis.
All Minis are not Blokarts.

Thats why I lke my LLM

Clemco said...

I said tie the boom to the foot of the sail like a normal landyacht. I wouldn't bother with the pod. At most Blokart racing speeds (0-60kph) I doubt It would have any noticeable effect. Yes the adjustable downhaul works well if you have three hands.

I trialed with a performance V production yacht after the racing in yeppoon. not too big a difference downwind , but upwind was really noticable, hence my body on green arrow
lots of smiley mini owners in this thread, how happy is that

landyacht said... I recon some blowie sailors should spend longer racing production yachts for longer before giong to performance,

The only reason I was racing in performance was because I needed to use a rachet block due to weak wrists. Now that I am allowed to use a rachet block in the production class I have dropped back and I feel a lot more comfortable and had a lot more fun at the recent Central Qld Regatta. Maybe others will change back due to recent rule changes as well.