Is it ok for you if I show up with an F18ht at an F18 event, or is that unfair? The F18ht is designed with all the benefits you get from loosing the jib, less gear, less weight....
Sorry Hakan, <img src="http://www.catsailor.com/forums/images/graemlins/tongue.gif" alt="" />
That dog won't hunt.
A complete selftacking jib setup weights less then 2 kg's and can be made to work well with only one line; the sheet. Pins in the traveller track will be enough to set the jib car and it is not really needed to adjust the jib luff tension on the water.
By adding a bridle foil you can even have a jib on a platform that was not designed to handle the bridle loads. How much weight will that add ? Another 2 kg when using a 50x1.6 mm round alu tube with 4 mm stainless steel wires. Cold be light when made from carbon.
Hell, lets add another kg and say that the total jib package will add 5 kg to the boat.
You call that "all the benefits ... from losing the jib", I call it negligiable.
An F18 is a sloop rig at 180 kg, the 18HT is a uni-rig at 130 kg. The F18 only has 6% more sail area then the 18HT and needs that to overcome its additional 50 kgs (18% of the total boat+crew weight). Not really a fair comparison right ?
How about having the F18 at 135 kg and the 18HT at 130 kg while giving the F18 the same rig as the F18HT but with an added 25 % jib. What do you think will then happen then ?
Wouter
