Thursday, April 03, 2014

Something you might want to think about...

I'm pretty sure there's an important lesson here somewhere, Lawyers, Guns, & Money with an apt thought, and Ian Welsh with a choice you might want to consider...

So, here's a question... When was the last time you flew on a plane that used wire rigging to hold the wings on?

Seriously it's a valid question.

Now, ask yourself why all the boats we sail on still hold up their masts with wire...

There are a bunch of reasons but very few of them have anything that actually benefits you and, it's mostly about money. I understand this because from time to time I actually make money doing rigging work and, if everyone had free-standing masts, there would be a lot less rigging work for folks to do. So hardly surprising that riggers, for the most part, are not huge fans of masts that do not require a lot of labor and expensive bits to make them work.

You might just say that simplicity, safety, and progress are too often counterproductive to profits.

Rodger Martin's Presto with a sensible cruising rig and not a wire in sight
Listening to Dave Mason

So it goes...