UPDATE 7/11/2019: c420 Class releases statement
The Club 420 Class, for many years the gold standard of youth double-handed sailing in North America, today released a statement outlining a decision to revoke the class legal plaque from 49 club 420 sailboats, UPDATE: (so far only 17 boats have actually been identified out and on the water by the Board of Directors) all recently built. These batches of new boats were found to not to comply with the class construction/building rules, and are now class-illegal. Apparently the method of hull construction on the affected boats is the issue. We will update this news as verified information becomes available. For those who are committed to these affected boats, there will be options for short-term charters at upcoming events. Zim Sailing VP of Sales Bob Adam added that no Zim-built boats fall in these sail numbers. Zim has both new and charter boats available.
With luck there is a fair, quick, and relatively painless solution to this issue, and it is to the great credit of the c420 class to expose this, and continue to hold high and consistent standards for one-design boats so that the kids, not the equipment, determine the outcome. We hope there is a clear, fair, and quick resolution to this, and that youth sailing in the c420 can get back to the business of learning, competition, and fun.
From the c420 class webpage: The Class Measurer (Dan Bornath) in consultation with the Class Board of Directors (John Morgan) has determined that certain boats do not meet the requirements of the Class Builders Construction Manual.
These boats with Club 420 plaques 8644 – 8656, 8702 – 8713, 8764 – 8787 are not approved for class events. We realize that this may produce issues for some of our members but the class is dedicated to enforcing similarity and consistency between all boats in our events with appropriate techniques and materials to ensure the safety and reliability of the boats for all our sailors.
As we get more information we will post here.
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