Rule 1 - Rocker Shape
Is it class legal to alter the rocker shape a little bit to make it better?
NO - intentionally modifying the rocker shape is prohibited. Please re-read the top of the class rules page where it has always said, we all use the same shaped hulls and modify the other parts -- and why we do this. Also please re-read rule #1, which has always said we use the same rocker shape.
Is the "defined hull shape" shown on the top of the rules page, the shape that you cut?
Or is it the final size of the boat?
The defined hull shape (DHS) is the perfect shape of a finished PDRacer, however most of us use that as the cut plan for our side panels, and then add plywood to it. The tolerances are setup loose enough so that you can use it as a cut plan.
With the measurement rule, do you measure it before or after the bottom is attached?
The measurement technique is performed on a finished boat.
Are the end points (where the bottom meet the transoms) movable within the tolerance?
First you must understand that the line between the end points creates the base line which all other tolerances are measured from. This is the only thing we can use as a base line, we can't use the edge of the plywood we cut the panel from, because that edge is now gone, and the top sheer lines of all our boats are different. So rather than questioning if the line is within the rocker tolerance, you need to understand that the string line defines the rocker tolerance area. And that tolerance area is shaped like the mouth of a "smiley face".
If I just made a 10" high hull, could I extend the corner of the bow chine forward ?
No - The lower 10" of the hull must conform to the same shape as a boat built with the exact same 18" high defined shape, which includes the bow angle. See the essay on how to cut the bow angle.
Is there a flat spot in the rocker, between station 3 and 4 ?
Rule 1F says the rocker must be a curve, so why is it flat between station 3 and 4 ?
When you attach the plywood to the bottom, it takes whatever you have and smooths it out to a curve so realistically, it would be very difficult to create a true "flat spot". Also understand when determining if the hull is class legal or not, it is only measured at the 7 station marks. So as long as you make sure to cut accurately in those 7 locations, your hull curve will turn out just fine.
The point of rule 1F is to eliminate weird shapes between the station marks. Weird shapes like steps, bumps or some other unforeseen shape.
Another thing you might want to know, is that our curve is not a natural bend from bow to stern, it is a hybrid made by combining 2 batten bends. You can read more about it on the page: Designing The Puddle Duck Racer
Is it class legal to sail a hull Upside Down?
No - if you turned it upside down, the top would then be the bottom and required to match the other boats. Same restriction would prohibit a boat from being sailed on it's side.
Can I extend decks or cabin forward (or aft) of the hull?
Technically no. Doing so would create external flotation. However many people do that for decorative or cosmetic reasons, and when racing other duckers realize that such extensions produce extra windage on the hull, which is not advantageous for racing -- and realistically would not ask for the penalty in rule #7.
Can I have an open stern transom ?
Yes - but remember that you must have the full height sides. So the sides at the stern corner would be at least 4" tall.
The reason for this allowance is to allow for creation of quickly self-bailing hulls. Many contemporary racing dinghies have open stern transoms, so when dumped and then righted, the water quickly falls off the back of the boat. Usually that type design has a bar across the stern with a vertical post to attach a rudder, or only a partial open stern.
Rule 2 - Flat, Parallel Sides & Keel (board) Width
Explain the rounding more - is that the radius of the router bit? The 1" chine removal allowance is really more like a fillet. The drawing to the right shows what can be removed. This rule is intended to allow for you to fiberglass the chines, or for fiberglass hulls to be molded. They both need rounded corners rather than sharp ones.
How about curving the sides just a bit to strengthen?
No - Curving the sides would violate rule #2. Our main focus is a super-simple "box with curved bottom" boat, and flat straight sides are strong enough for our purposes.
Is it OK to have a golf ball like texture to the bottom of the hull, if the dimples were within the rocker tolerance?
No - The rule says "flat", which means flat going across the beam. The bottom is curved in the other direction, so the flat obviously means across the beam. It has been suggested that the grain of the wood has a texture, and is not flat -- but this is an irritating knit, and if you really want to pick it, no matter how smooth the surface is, you could continue down to the molecular level to "technically" prove it is not flat. So it is a common sense thing, and intentional dimples are not allowed.
Is it OK to use external chine logs?
No - The rule says flat sides, external chines would create sides that are not flat. The reason they are prohibited is because someone my try and exploit the external chines to make some kind of non-vertical fin or other oddity. For style & cosmetic reasons, some duckers do use external chines even though they are not technically class legal. Because they add drag and do not help performance, it is unlikely that another ducker will attempt to have someone disqualified for having external chines.
I see the "slots for foils are OK", so can I make a 3 foot wide slot down the middle (and entire length) of the boat?
No - The rule says slot for foil, and the foils have a tolerance width, so the slot can not be wider than that.
Is it OK to flare out the hull hull above 10" ?
NO - The rule says flat sides, flat transoms. So as the sides and transoms continue up, they must continue to be flat. If you flared the sides out, then that area which flares out would provide external flotation. During a race, if a boat is knocked over and it had flared sides, that external flotation would make it easier to right and thus be an unfair advantage.
There is a special exemption specified for above the 10" line that is intended to allow external gunnels, small hiking wings and leeboard support structures.
Is it OK to narrow the hull above 10" ?
Yes - and most of us already do that in the form of decks and cabins on top of our hulls. As soon as you break the plane of the side or transom and turn in wards, all of that is considered "inside" the boat. The flat side rule is intended to prevent you from flaring out above the 10" line and creating external flotation.
Is it OK to have a take apart hull?
Is it OK to have a removable section, so I can drop in a motor or hobie mirage drive?
Yes - This is more of a common sense thing though. If you have a duck that has multiple parts that are bolted together, and taken apart for transport, then you will end up with a seam. I am sure everyone can recognize this seam will create drag, so it is not advantageous to have one. A removable section to drop in a propulsion device would be the same. So as long as the resulting shape stays within tolerance while used in a class race, they are OK to have.
Rule 3 - Hull Width
I live outside of the USA and am only able to find 1200mm wide plywood (3 foot 11 1/4 inches wide).
Can we make our boats 3' 11-1/4" wide and still be in spec?
Yes - the beam has a 1" tolerance, so the narrowest you can make a boat is 47" wide, and widest is 49", so your plywood would fall inside the tolerance.
Rule 4 - Emergency Flotation
If you capsize and flood the boat, you must be able to self recover it in deep water. ** Please practice recovering your boat, so when the time comes, you will know what to do.
Rule 5 - External Flotation
Are mast head floats permitted?
Yes - They are the only exception to the rule, and are highly encouraged. If you dump your boat and the mast head float hits the water, you are screwed anyway (race time wise). So there is no need to prohibit them.
Rule 6 - No Lifting Foils
Is it OK to use external leeboards or side daggerboards? Yes, keels (fins, daggerboards etc) may be attached to the side of the hull, and structures that hold them may be attached there also. You may have keels and structures on both sides of the hull.
The structures holding the fins may be odd shaped, and are not required to be flat. However the portion of the keel and structure that are below the 10" line, must not have a total thickness that is greater than the keel width tolerance.
Structures and protrusions that are above the 10" line have a special allowance in rule 2. That rule is intended to allow external gunnels, small hiking wings, and leeboard guard or support structures.
Is it OK to use a full length keel on the side of the hull?
If the distance from the outside-to-outside of the keels is within the hull width tolerance, then the keels would be considered to be under the hull. Or full length keels may be attached to the sides of the hulls as described above.
Is it OK to have more than one keel? Such as 3 shoal bilge boards? Can I bolt 2 keels together?
A keel (fin, daggerboard etc) can not be wider than the specified tolerance. You may have multiple keels and fins. If you attach 2 or more boards together, they become a single fin, and the combination of them together must fit within the tolerance as if it were a single fin.
Is it OK to put a box keel on the bottom?
Is it OK to have a foam filled keel?
As long as the keel (fin, daggerboard etc) does not exceed the width tolerance, it is OK. I know that technically if the fin is less dense than water, then it would provide some external flotation, but realistically since our width tolerance is so small, the flotation lift it would provide is so small, it doesn't matter.
Is it OK to have a skeg on the bottom of the hull?
First, here are the definitions of some terms:
Skid - a small strip of wood attached to the bottom, intended to protect the hull, or stiffen it.
Rub Strip - same as a skid
Skeg - a small fin that is fixed to the hull. Most of the time it is in the stern area, sometimes near the bow.
Shoal Keel - A keel fixed to the bottom of the hull, typically shorter than 12"
Bilge Keel - Same as shoal keel, but typically shorter than 6"
Bilge Board - Same as bilge keel
Yes - as long as the skeg is not wider than the keel width tolerance. The same answer applies to all of the above listed items, they all are considered keels, the only difference being the name they are commonly called. To us, they are all keels.
Is it OK to attach a shoal keel with a large filletsuch as the red line in this drawing?
No - the large fillet depicted with the red line would then form the bottom that is no longer flat, and a foil that is wider than the keel width tolerance.
Is it OK to have a skeg extend forward of the hull?
Yes - Most all of our rudders extending beyond the stern of the hull, so a skeg or other keel extending forward of the hull would be OK too.
Is it OK to have canting or angled keel(s)?
Is it OK to have a winged keel?
Is it OK to have a horizontal fin at the bottom of the keel or rudder?
No - all fins underwater must be vertical.
If they are anything besides vertical, they will provide lift, and thus considered lifting foils and are prohibited.
Can I put a bulb on the bottom of the keel ?
Can I put horizontal fins on the sides or bottom of the foils ?
No - The rule says the foils must be vertical surfaces. While the cross section of a foil might be teardrop shaped such as a NACA foil, the sides must be vertical so they will not provide vertical lift. The round shape of the bulb, or horizontal protrusions such as plate bottom would provide lift, therefore they are prohibited.
I was thinking of using traction kites to power my PD Racer, and those are called foils, which do lift. Is a kite a class legal sail?
The "lifting foils" specified in the rules refer to underwater fins.
Kites and other sails are sometimes called lifting foils, but since they don't touch the water, they are completely different, and OK to use.
Misc Other Questions
Is it OK to register a hull I know is NOT class legal?
The intent of our class has always been explained at the top of the class rules page -- that we all try our best to build the same hull shape, and then we race them in a fun and goofy ways, and also for serious racing. As our club started getting popular, a few people started modifying their hull shape thinking it would gain them better performance - even though they knew it clearly violated the main principle of our club. Also some plans became available for sale, and we did not realize they violated our class rules. Because of the huge problems and arguments non-class legal hulls have caused, do not register hulls, which are not class legal. We also have rule 7 that any ducker may utilize at to confirm participating boats meet our class rules, and to remove those that aren't.
Why won't you change the rules so ANY boat can be class legal?
A sailboat class is a collection of sailboats that all meet a common definition. Furthermore, ever since the formation of the first sailboat class, sailors have wanted to race their boats against other classes, but because of the differences in hull shapes, one class will always be faster than another. To create a way that different types of boats can compete, handicap ratings were created -- and the PDRacer Class has a handicap rating. That means that if your boat is PDRacer class legal, you can compete against any other boat class that also has a handicap rating.
Would you consider making a rule change to eliminate fiberglass hulls?
I am concerned the cost of the class will rise and plywood boats will not be competitive anymore?
NO - Limiting materials is beyond what our class concept is about. Besides, a hull made from common plywood can be made much lighter, just as smooth as any fiberglass or carbon hull, for much less money. We also already have a number of hulls made from foam which are even lighter than wood hulls. The point of fiberglass or carbon fiber is to have a durable hull that will last many years, and that would be a good thing. If you are further worried about an arms race of expensive materials, see why this will not be a problem for our class, because of our flexible nature: Arms race and making expensive boats
Would you consider making rules to regulate hull weight?
NO - That would be way beyond the simplicity of our class, and realistically the main weight difference between hulls is the skipper: some duckers are as light as 80 lbs, or as heavy as 350 lbs.
Is it class legal to use a motor on my puddle duck?
Is it class legal to use paddle wheels or a Hobie Mirage Drive?
The class rules only regulate the shape of the hull and fins. The means of propulsion (and other stipulations) are regulated by the racing rules, which are picked by the ducker that organized the event.
Is it OK to use [non class legal thing] in the Texas 200 or Everglades Challenge?
Is it within the class spirit to use non-class legal stuff ?
Very simply, if you are participating in an event that is advertised as a "puddle duck race (or event etc)", that event is using the class trademark and thus participating boats are required to be class legal. However for other events or when just sailing for the fun of it, then you are welcome to do anything you want. And of all the boats in the world, YES it is within the class spirit to play with them ANY way you see fit, because your puddle duck is built and played with the way YOU want to.
The other aspect of participating in other (non-class legal) events like the Texas 200, is really about bragging rights. Anyone can do it in a big boat, but because our boat is so slow, that making it to the finish really is an accomplishment. However if you did it by adding non-class legal parts, then you sort of didn't really do it in a puddle duck and your peers might say that you didn't really make it in a duck. But again, that is just public perception and bragging rights, and the class rules only regulate events that are advertised as class legal.
What Rules Would You Consider Changing?
The class rules are simply a way to communicate the structure or concept of the way we participate and play together. So ideally, we don't really need rules, just a way to convey the concept of "lets build the same shaped hulls, and then go play and race with them together", which the original 4 rules said in very basic terms. Unfortunately there are those which can not accept the vast amounts of freedom that our concept allows, and they wish to violate the very few things which we try to make consistent.
As real problems emerge challenging our concept, I have made (and will continue to make - at my sole discretion) adjustment to the wording of our rules so that duckers may utilize them to remove the problems, and get back to what we are about, which is clearly stated in our motto.
Why do we fuss so much about rules?
With such a simple boat, open community and relaxed attitude to wards the fun sailing we do, you might be wondering why we make such a fuss over the few rules we do have. It is simple: if we are going to have rules, they should be serious enough to mean something. Otherwise, what would be the point of having any rules ? Furthermore because membership and participation have always been free & voluntary, that participating and utilizing class created resources acknowledges your agreement with adhering to the rules.
Also we are trying to prevent something that happened to a previous class. In 1947, the Optimist Club wanted to create a boat intended to be a youth trainer, that an average family could build themselves. It was designed by the American Clark Mills, and called the Optimist Pram.
Later, Charles McGregor designed a boat called a Sabot which is almost the same, but slightly different than the Opti, also intended as a youth training boat. The Sabot plans were published in a magazine as a competitor to the Opti. Soon after that design was modified by a yacht club and called the El Toro. Other variations appeared including the Naples Sabot, the Australian Holdfast Trainer and others.
The variations between them are very small, but just enough to make them not class legal to race against each other. Those small variations are also not enough to make one perform better than the other. Today, many of the variations have survived and un-suspecting families purchase them intending to get a boat for their kids to use in Optimist races, only to discover they are not class legal. Optimist Pram plans are still available today, and it is still the most popular youth training boat in use by conventional yacht clubs.
Since we have a free club, free boat plans, and just a couple of rules which are all aimed at keeping the hull shape the same, I would hope that we can prevent history from repeating itself.
