Launched the new boat yesterday. Gusty westerly 5-10 knots puffing to 15. All went well, no breakages, bent the tiller extension though, and it seems to sit on its lines as designed.

Stbd hull was dry as a bone but port hull had a dribble of bilge water, won't hunt the leak down for awhile yet.

Was a little nervous about the strength of the hard points (chain plates, bridle attachments, etc.) but they all came out smelling roses...no "settling" was seen after close inspection.

It turns on a dime, which was handy when tacking back through the marina in <5 knots.

The extra freeboard has made it a much dryer boat than the mozzie.

Have to sort out something better for the centreboards, currently using an old set of heavy timber and glass ones that have been cut quickly to suit.

Generally speaking everything I wanted to be improved over the old boat seems to have been achieved, now just need to try it in some more breeze and chop in racing conditions.

Photos to come...

Photos uploaded.

Ncik's F16 Homebuild Finally Finished

It looks a bit bare without a kite pole. Better sort that out soon.

Nice to hear Nick. Cant wait for the photos

That boats looking pretty sexy Nick.
I do agree it will look meaner with a bow sprit hanging off it.

Will

Congratulations Nick. It all sounds good! Looking forward to some action pics and hearing more about the platform as you gain experience.
Have you done any tests on stiffness yet? How does it feel when sailing, fast? :-) What did you do about daggerboards and rudders?

I'm very impressed how the hulls look considering the pretty simple method of construction.

Well done !

Wouter

haha, that's a word I use to describe its looks..."mean"

No stiffness tests yet, I think I'll wait till the beams settle a bit and the bolts are tightened right up.

It felt good when sailing, maybe that was the relief of finishing it though.

The biggest thing is that it feels like it can be pushed harder than I could the mozzie, mainly because of the extra freeboard.

Rudders are off the old mozzie, but I think they will be too small once a kite is installed. They ventilated on the mozzie downwind in a breeze!

The current daggerboards are "budget", just to get on the water. They will be replaced when I decide what to replace them with. Anyone with ideas? I learnt my lesson with making my own centreboards, make them before installing the cases! They came out alright, but about 1-2mm too think for the cases. Such a stupid thing to happen. I was bitter about that mistake!

I'm very happy with the hull shape, the deck could do with an appearance upgrade though.

Wow Nick! What a great effort.