A curious place to post your message into the "WC Resolutions" forum -- no one outside of the WC can reply there. On the assumption you would like some comment,
Bruce Anderson wrote:Although fittings with flat surfaces may not add performance advantage, the size and area of rig fittings may need to be regulated.
It may be worth noting that the Class Rules make an attempt to limit what a fitting can do:
IOM Class Rules wrote:F.2.3 LIMITATIONS. The function of items shall be limited to what is normally provided by items of their type.
I seem to recall that this has been used in the past to refuse certification to booms with large-area clew attachment fittings, for example.
Related to this question, there seems to be finally some desire to clarify the rules regarding permitted materials for rig fittings. As currently written the IOM Class Rules do not specify any permitted materials for rig fittings and the class has acted as if this means that rig fitting materials are unrestricted.
As a strict matter of interpretation, however, the opposite is true. Effectively, the class rules do not permit any rig fittings of any kind since no permitted materials are specified and under our general principles, anything not specifically permitted is illegal.
This whole thing could be cleared up if we passed a rule change that said the following:
"Rig Fittings/Materials: Materials for rig fittings shall be unrestricted".