You wrote :

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And since the USA supposedly makes up 25% of the worldwide class, you would think we could have a bit more say in the whole thing.

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Can you please clearify what it is exactly that you trying to say here ?

Wouter

Rick-
But Dave's obviously got the "sailing genes"!!
That was a fun time and a great regatta- Thanks again!
As for the mid-girth "rule", I'm sure it is derived from a monohull based definition of what a "spinnaker" is-
But the reality is at the current time (and certainly when we were setting up the class rules a few years ago) this is the "definition" and the ratings for the Hooter would hit the class hard, at least in Europe.
I just got an "experimental" spinnaker from Goodall myself so someone else can pony up for the Calvert this year.
If no one has by next season and my current one doesn't work out like I want I may give it a try. You know I'm not afraid to try new things- Bought the first US Taipan 4.9 sight unseen.

Kirt

Hi Kirt,
It really is a crying shame that we cannot get a class of F16s going here in the U.S. Calvert has gotten away from beach cats in the last few years because so many classes require factory-supplied sails.
Just had lunch with him the other day and he would love to get back into the beach cat scene, but the factory sails is a killer for inventive and creative sailmakers.
I told him how the F18 classes is really taking off and they are wide open for sails. I wish I could have told him the same about the F16 or the F14, but alas, I could not.

He is willing to sponsor a team with new and creative sails, if it is in a class that is growing, shows up for events, and has good exposure. Otherwise, there would be nothing in it for him.

I know I was really excited about the F16 Class when I first got my 4.9, but that bubble has since been busted.
We really need to do something like the F18 Class and get folks out sailing.
The best way I know of is to get an email list and keep in communication so we all agree as to what events to attend.

As it is, my poor 4.9 just sits there gathering dust and mildew.

On another note, Kirt, since you are so up on the Taipan 4.9, have they ever improved the rudder system? I have probably lost more races with this boat than any I have because of the rudders.., HOLD ON! The worst was the Mystere. But both are close.

For example, while racing in the Miami-Key Largo Race against about 300 boats, I had a great start and was 20-miles in to the course and close to the lead boats (SC30, RC27 and the like) and started slowing down due to weeds on the rudder.
So, yanked up on that dumb rudder stick (the one with the downward pin that goes into a hard-to-find hole) and the entire rudder came off the pindle.
That was some sort of fun trying to line up those holes in rock and roll seas. I was at least 45 minutes in doing so. Needless to say, my finish was not that good.
And one time I hit something and instead of the rudder popping up, the stick bent.

The best rudder system I have ever seen was very simple. The Nacra 6.0 had a foolproof system that basically used ropes. It always worked.
In fact, that is what my Taipan 5.7 uses and it works great.
Apparently, in Australia, they must not have sand bars, kelp and only sail out of Yacht Clubs.

If you hear of any improvements, or if you have any suggestion, I would love to hear from you.., or anyone, for that matter.

Thanks,
Rick

Most YC folks don't have much tolerance for cats. The Tornadoes do enjoy the YC atmosphere, but the rest of the cats are considered nomads, living in the sand of the beach.

Here we need kickup rudders that work. However, I just discovered a way to use the Nacra semi-circle prismatic kickups on a square tiller. That will solve all the problems and I will have a useful boat again.
Rick

In my city.
We have two cat only clubs. Both sail offshore, one has an acre or so of grass to rig up on and a no wave beach to sail out from. The other is beach based with waves. There are three other ocean based clubs in the metro area.. One has at least one cat class not sure about the other two. Both have sand/grass rigging areas. All are wave free. Then there are 3 mixed clubs on the river. One has around 3 acres of lawn... All have hot showers and cold cheap beer. The river also has 2 skiff clubs and 6 skiff/cruiser clubs.

In addition there are 4 clubs within what I call the greater metro area. Its been some time since I visited these but back then they all had cats. In addition most regional clubs have a cat fleet.

Rick-
Well, there are more Taipans and F16HP's in Florida than anywhere else and that's where they are growing the fastest so you are in the right state! I'm sure those folks would love to see you out! Are you going to compete in the upcoming F16HP uni race Jennifer is planning?

As for sails, I don't know why you would tell Dave the F16HP's or Taipans do not have "open" sails? Both the Taipan class rules and F16HP class rules allow any sailmaker or you can make your own. There are a number of different sailmakers in Australia supplying Taipan class sails such as Redhead sails or Ashby sails, etc. and you can order a boat without sails if desired. In the Taipan class in order to compete in National/International class events you do have to pay a slight fee and get an official "patch", but this is fairly common. As for the F16HP sail rules, anybody can make them and they just have to fit the class rules.
As for rudders- they have upgraded the old bent aluminum tube rudder boxes with carbon fiber boxes and newer rudder shapes (just like the Aussie Flyer rudders and boxes if you are familiar with those- Jennifer has these) but still use a rod although it is stiffer and stronger. HOWEVER, the Taipan and F16HP rules are pretty open on rudders so you can put (almost) any kind of rudder system on there you want. The "ideal" system IMO would be a takeoff on the old NACRA "remote" pull down system with bunji uphaul (you know- the one that used a cleat on the rear beam so you could kickup and then lock down your rudder from the other side of the boat- Murrays used to sell a kit to upgrade to this. I have used a similar system with the Clamcleat #CL257 "auto-release racing mini cleat" which is a selfcontained sort of version of the pivmatic clamp and the release tension is adjustable. The only "issue" I have with them is they are fairly expensive (~$22 USD) and hard to find but they work well. You could use your current rudder "hole" in the back top of the rudder for a bunji uphaul and drill a hole in the rudder and rig the downhaul line ala the Nacras and either use this cleat on the tiller arm or mount it on the front of the rear beam and run the remote line through the rear beam to it.
When we were doing the Worrell on the 5.7 we converted the rudder system (as I am sure you are aware since you had one of those boats!) to Nacra style for launching through the surf- Beware of trying to steer if the rudder is not fairly down in the rudder box or you will break a rudder.

Regards,
Kirt

Kirt,
Rick worded that sentence a little awkwardly, and I can see how it could have been misunderstood. He and Calvert both know that the F16 and F14 classes are open as far as sails. What he was saying was that he was sorry he could not tell Calvert that those two classes are "taking off," as the Formula 18 has.

I'm sure that will be changing soon for the F16, now that we have a U.S. builder. Very exciting!

And, yes, Rick is going to the uni regatta.

"A while back I talked to a sailmaker about this, and he said the term gennaker can be ambiguous, so if somebody orders a gennaker, he has to have them clarify exactly what type of sail they are talking about. I think the term "spinnaker" is universally understood, which is why I suggested using that word in the rules. Not everybody is going to go down and check the definitions if they think they already know what a word means. It would be unfortunate if somebody ordered the wrong type of sail for this class just because of a simple word misunderstanding. "

Mary, it would be impossible to make a sail that doesn`t conform to the class rules, as long as you actually READ them first !
The rules on a spinnaker / gennaker / hooter are so simple it would be incredibly difficult for a sailmaker to get it wrong such that your sail doesn`t measure. Whether you call it a gennaker, spinnaker, hooter, screacher, reacher, code 0, or an inverted apex g-string bikini really doesn`t make a difference.(My apology to all skydivers or parachutists, and ladies who floss behind).

What matters is that your max. hoist height is 7,5m, your max. calculated sail area is 17,5sqm, and your mid-girth measurement is 75% of the foot length. (Unfortunately the measurements are metric, and the method of calculating sail area is done according to ISAF calculations, so I can see a lot of resistance from American sailors to want to belong to a class that works according to International methods, and doesn`t do things the American way.) There`s also a rule on pole length, which will determine the max. aspect ratio to a certain degree. The fullness/flatness, position of max. draft, luff, leech & foot lengths and a host of other design variables (most of which I`m too stupid to understand, and that`s why I`m no sailmaker), are just that - variable. A sailmaker who knows how to make catamaran sails and claims he can`t be creative within the class rules has no clue on what he`s doing. But I`m going to assume your sailmaker won`t get it wrong.

I think the term Gennaker came about when, on keelboats, cruising people started putting spinnaker type sails on their boats without a spinnaker pole, and you gybed it as you would a normal jib ie you turn it inside-out, and it was assymetric, meaning it`s leech & luff lengths were unequal. It made things a lot easier and hence hit the cruising market first. It was called a "gennaker" by sailmakers first, so I`m dumb-founded as to why THEY would be the ones who think it`s an ambiguous term.

I think you can sum it up as follows:
Spinnaker : symmetrical foresail, gybed such that the leech on one gybe becomes the luff on the next gybe, and is set on a gybing pole. Has a port & starboard clew, rather than a tack and clew.
Gennaker : assymetrical foresail, is turned inside-out when gybing, and has a tack and a clew. (meaning the tack is always fixed at the pole end while set.)
If I`m half-way right on these definitions, what we sail with is called a gennaker, unless you gybe your pole as you would on keelboats. I think the term spinnaker has crept in and got used by sailors, not sailmakers, and it`s what we got stuck with, even though it might not be correct terminology. Who really cares ?
Steve