As Wouter said, The pic is of a Jav 2 not the new Bim 16. A little deceptive of them, had me believing it was a pic of their new boat ! That`s what led me to write that they have launched their new boat, I don`t have any evidence of that other than the misleading pic on their web-site, but I bet I wasn`t the only one fooled !
Thanks for putting me straight. Truth is that a boat with a taller rig WILL perform better than a shorter rig in lighter wind and vice versa - a lower aspect rig works better in a blow as you get more power lower down.This is the case where I sail, mostly against Dart 18`s, with a mast length of 8m, approx 12sqm mainsail area. I sail a 16 foot cat called a Mosquito - the Aussies will know the boat as it was designed by one of their own & was the boat which the Taipan was developed from. (Check history of the Taipan on the Aussie web-site.) My mast is 7,3m with approx. 12sqm sail area & my boat weighs 99kg. In light breeze I compete with the Darts on an equal basis, but in more than 15 knots I tend to run away from them.
The difference is my boat is about 40kg lighter. The Taipan rig looks high-aspect enough, if not too much for me (combined crew weight of 125kg 2up), in more than 18 knots I would be wasting half the power just to stay upright - a boat with a shorter mast & longer boom providing the same sail area would probably be faster in heavy breeze.
I expect that a Bim 16 with a 9m mast would be faster than a Taipan if sailed solo in light wind, and slower upwind in a stiff breeze (overpowered). Since both boats are similar in weight the comparison between my Mosquito & a Dart 18 doesn`t apply in this situation. Likewise, a Bim 16 sailed double may be slower than Taipan in light wind, but may perform better in a breeze - It will definitely point higher.
I think the mainsail efficiency ratio is the key here - In order to be F16 compliant a boat with a 9m mast must have less sail area than a boat with 8,5m mast - I think in time the boat designers will settle on 8,5m anyway as I think a 9m mast is a bit extreme unless you always sail in less than 5 knots.
The reason the Bim 16 is creating a stir is probably that it has been designed to be sailed 2up with no jib. How does that affect the solo sailor ? Only on-the-water comparisons will tell, so we`ll have to wait & see.
What I do see on this forum is that the majority of those involved sail Taipans, so it`s only natural that they would be concerned about any new boat that fits within the F16 framework & is faster than the Taipan / Stealth / Spitfire. This would not be good for the class, as I don`t see Taipan sailors all buying 9m masts & new sails if this is the faster route. The original intent of the class was to provide cost-effective racing on similar boats that have similar speed-potential, if a different rig configuration proves to be much faster it could hurt the class. Based on this I would have to agree that limiting the mast height to 8,5m is probably a sensible thing to do, however it seems ill-considered given the fact that Bimare have spent considerable time & effort developing their new boat which until recently did fit into the class box-rule. Based on Wouter`s post it seems they are not concerned with being involved in F16 class, but it would be a pity to exclude them if they have similar performance, as their numbers could help your own class grow.
That`s all I was trying to say.
