The F16 is an infant class at the moment though it is rapidly gaining interest worldwide with new boats being developed. There has been a recent review of the box rules with a number of proposed amendments. These include lower mast height to 8.5m and a tip weight to equalise the performance between Aluminium and Carbon masts.
The Taipan 4.9 is only potential F16 class with significant worldwide numbers (260 boats plus in Australia, US, Europe and SE Asia) with the Stealth and Bimare only having a small number of boats on the water. To see the success of the F16 concept there needs to be more involvement in the class development with manufacturers and more boats on the water. Taipan sailors are the best avenue of approach for this and if only 10% of the T4.9s convert to F16 you still have more boats than the Stealth and Bim combined.
Being in Australia with strong class racing in the Taipans (last Nationals had 48 sloops and 14 cat-rigs) the majority of Aussies are hesitant to upgrade their boats. Main reason is that we already have a strong fleet, and when you are on a good thing don't change it. Despite saying that there is a lot of interest in spinnakers with the new Tornado rig and the F18 starting to make inroads over here. Most owners that have moved to kites to race as a F16 against the F18 are doing so on a casual basis but will still compete as a standard Taipan at major regattas (eg Nationals and States).
The F16 with a 9m mast height and carbon masts with no weight equalisers will stop all interest in the F16 in Australia (which is grassroots at the moment) and you will end with a similar situation as what happened with the 14 foot skiffs. That was an International 14 and an Australian 14. We don't want to see a US and European F16 and an Aussie F16.
To convert a current Taipan to F16 costs approx $1,500 Aussie, but adding a carbon mast and new mainsail then you are looking at anywhere between $4,000 to $5,000 and who wants to drag around 2 rigs. One for standard and another for F16. With 260 Taipans worldwide it is best to minimise conversion cost and not alienate current owners.
Another aspect of why we are pushing for the mast tip weight is that it stops development of super-light carbon masts (which will happen when we start getting world titles with 50 or more boats) which will have a tendency to break. This leads to potential upward spiral in insurance costs. In Australia a number of insurers will not touch the A-Class at all and one sailor who has broken a carbon mast whilst sailing now has an excess larger than the cost of a new mast! This is not feasible and not the best situation in promoting the class as this can be a major annual cost.
Cheers
JC
