Line honors in small open multihull class at Huntington Lake--Paul wasn't there to contest me; also had 8 I14 skiffs sail with us.

And a rare article in the newspaper.

http://www.fresnobee.com/sports/story/10856941p-11630399c.html

Sweet CONGRATS Eric. You are making me want to go Uni even more now. After September I am sure I will be going UNI, training a new guy every other race is a real PITA.

Back ontopic, congrats on your win.

I'm definately faster sloop, and I believe sailing uni is more challenging to do well. But it's very satisfying when you get everything working right...and there's no crew to train and no one to blame or yell at but yourself when you screw up!

Eric,
Is it just you who are definitely faster sailing the sloop rig, or is the sloop rig definitely faster than the unrig? Isn't the heart of the F-16 concept that sloops and unirigs can race against each other equally?

Mary it has been proven that a sloop F16 can sail faster than a Uni. The DPN will reflect this so will the Texel ratings.

Sloop can be pushed a lot harder than Uni's

Mary,

The F16 is, in theory, very similar in speed whether sailed sloop 2-up or uni 1-up--that's one of the neat things about the class. In reality, it is easier to sail the boat 2-up for a couple reasons: 1) Sloop is easier to tune and tack--adjustments like mast rotation and downhaul need to be more precise sailing uni, the jib helps maneuverability at during starts and tacks; 2) It is easier to manage the spinnaker sailing 2-up (2 people handling 3sails instead of 1 person handling 2 sails and trying to steer, trap, etc).

Either set up, the boat is fast and fun. I'm sure there's a lot of sailors out there who could sail faster than me with either set up. I think that despite the slight disparity with the Portsmouth and Texel ratings, racing 1-up uni vs 2-up sloop as "first across wins" would be fair and fun.

Robi--If I'm not mistaken, I believe that Portsmouth rates the sloop F16 faster while the UK's small cat rating system and Texel rate the uni F16 faster.

Despite the fact that me and a Hobie 20 finished well over five minutes sooner than the fastest skiff (same start, same course), there seemed to be a sentiment amoungst the regatta attendees that the skiffs were the fastest boats around. Sort of amusing. I enjoyed chatting with the skiff guys, though.

Anyway, does anyone know the I14 rating comparison? The dPN numbers don't seem accurate.

Nice save, Eric. I could see the entire foundation of the F-16 class dissolving and going down the drain.

One of the big selling points is that it is easier to get a class going because sloops and uni-rigs supposedly can race boat for boat. It appeals to people who do not want to race on Portsmouth.