To Phills comments I would like to add that you must not forget about the "lazy F16" setup also known as "A la A-cat".

This means you leave everything off except the mainsail. Rigging is a breeze and you'll be out on the water very quickly. For some reason no reraking of the mast is necessary on the Blade, it stays pretty balance when the jib is not fitted.

It is also pretty quick. Just last saterday I gave a GPS unit to a clubmember (95 kg = 210 lbs) singlehanding his F16 this way and he score 16 knots averages both upwind and downwind. He also achieved pointing angles of 45 degrees upwind and downwind. Winds were strong that day. Later (another boat) we went out with two on the boat (total 160 kg = 350 lbs) with again only the mainsail and scored 15 knots on average upwind. The GPS batteries were flat on the downwind leg so can't tell you the speeds there, sorry.

I have myself sailed this way (mainsail only) the last couple of weekends as I'm very busy during the week and I feel very tired in the weekends. So I don't have the energy to completely rig my F16, but just through up the mainsail is something I still can handle. And even this way the F16 is great fun.

First club race is in two weeks and then I'll go fully rigged again !

In general I'm really pleased personally at how well the boat behaves in all different variations and indeed I do use all of these regulary. I'm loving it for this versatility.

Wouter