Can permanent bow number systems work for your sailboat class?
Many sailboat racing classes struggle with how to ID their boats during regattas and then have to discard 100 vinyl numbers. From both an eco- and a logistical perspective, many classes are turning to permanent bow number systems. Can your class do this? Let’s explore.
Manufacturer classes such as Viper 640 and Melges 24s have already adopted these requirements. Their approach to it, though, is very different. Melges24 allows an approved set of bow numbers to be cut from a file sent to the boat owner or an approved cut number from a vendor who can replicate the number and vinyl (there are a few, CRG is one of them!) You can take the file to anyone who cuts vinyl, or use someone who can produce that number to exact specifications (like Championship Regatta Graphics). The Viper640 class has provided these to their boat members through class administration. Boat owners order the bow numbers through the class, and they are shipped to the boat owner for application. New boats will already have bow numbers issued.
Many other classes are considering it, but the logistical challenges of, say 170,000 boats (Laser, lookin’ at you!) some of which aren’t even in service any longer, are daunting. Some active bigger boat classes like J111s and J70s and J80s already have to have regatta-provided graphics at each event. So what do you do?
As a class administrator, ask your class management team how many (as a percentage) of your class actually race at events large enough to require a bow number. And, is it practical? For instance, although you can have 100 Lasers on a line (hey, Citrus Sailfest in the early 1990s) is it always the case? Some classes of boats exclusively race – say, Melges 24s versus Lightnings. A good percentage of Lightnings never see a race course, so providing a bow number for each boat registered would be not necessary. But a good percentage of Melges 24s DO see the weather mark on a regular basis, so having bow numbers issued is key.
How to issue the numbers? Some classes go with just issuing numbers that match the hull ID. If your class that you’re administering is smaller, this makes some sense. If you have to manage 15,000 potential racing boats, that’s less practical.
Will we ever get beyond the need for bow numbers? Sure we will. I expect at some point, we will adhere RFIDs with GPS to our hulls and have some sort of tech standards with clubs being able to read these RFIDs+ GPS as boats cross the line – but for now, that is largely impractical because GPS is not millimeter accurate and you KNOW sailors are going to argue who was first over the line down to the millimeter.
For now, though, a permanent class bow number system makes some sense. If you think about it, most boats that race are required to carry state watercraft IDs and there are millions of boats in the USA alone. So it’s possible to even livery a huge fleet of racing boats, like Lasers, by just keeping track of which boat has registered with what number. This would also benefit class associations as they are the keepers of the list – and also the keepers of those annual registration and payment that it is often hard to gather from sailors. Yes, many classes require that boat owners be members and it’s enforced at championship regattas, but often not far down the chain to club Wednesday night fleets.
From a technical materials standpoint, while standard vinyl will do the trick, long life 8-10 year vinyl (which is 4x more expensive) is actually a better choice. For the size of most bow numbers and the exposure to wear (trailers, covers, gear rubbing, boats rubbing one another and sunlight), the larger numbers mean more weather proof vinyl is recommended. For most classes, the cost to members is under $50 per BOAT, depending on the size, and the class can make $5-10 on this besides.
Contact us to talk about how this works, let us connect you to the classes that use it and see if it’s right for you.