At the 89th UIM General Assembly held recently in Fujairah, the Swedish National Authority (SVERA) submitted a proposal for a new International Class 3 sub-division to be known as 3M.

The new Class rules were approved, although with a change of prefix to X instead.

Class 3X will be for mono hulls only, homologated 200HP engines with a minimum length of 6.75 m and a maximum length of 8.00 m. Width is 1.70 m minimum and 2.10 m maximum.

The class proposals were submitted to the UIM for approval by the same ‘brains’ responsible for the UIM 3A rules, where a similar move was made with the introduction of UIM Class 3A in 2012 (mono hull only) and only allowing ‘cats and bats’ to race in UIM  Class 3B.

For competitors that have always favoured a mono hull for racing, this may well provide the solution to the vacuum left by the introduction of  a mandatory canopy rule in UIM Class 3C some years ago.

A 2017 Swedish Class 3X Cup for the fledgling class will be competed for, with the added bonus of a substantial amount of Krona as prize money.

Jesper Zander’s Frode mono hull will be competing in 3X – Photo: Hans Gustavsson