One of my observations from the weekend was the speed of the sloop rigged taipans up wind. In particular Gordon Barrett (tasi oki) & James McDonald (Macatack). They footed off about 2-3 degrees & there speed was nearly 50% faster.!

Sure their jibs were everlapping & not F16 compliant for sail area, but an amazing difference that none of the fully compliant F16's could match.! <img src="http://www.catsailor.com/forums/images/graemlins/shocked.gif" alt="" />

I also observed that Dennis Baker (current cat rigged national champion) was using the latest generation Goodall "fat head" mainsail & there was virtually no speed difference between F16's (cat rigged) & Dennis's boat, incidently Dennis was not running a spinnaker system & amazingly did not loose much on the downwind legs. <img src="http://www.catsailor.com/forums/images/graemlins/confused.gif" alt="" />

Personally i think our upwind spped compared is a good sign for the F16 class as the Taipans are our initial benchmark.