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Robi,
Have you tried the Viper F16? Seems like it would carry more weight, if that is your concern.


Mary,

Greg is quoted as saying that the Viper is aimed at the lighter sailor.

Simon,
I think you are talking about what it says on the AHPC web site about the Viper, which is just generically talking about the F16 aiming at lighter sailors than other classes of boats, as opposed to other brands of F16's.

So I wrote to ask Greg Goodall about this, and here is his reply:

Hi Mary,
You are correct; they have got their facts the wrong way around. The Viper will carry heavier sailors much better than any of the other F16's. The Viper is the most buoyant and stiffest F16 being built. The Viper is about 10% more buoyant than the Blade and 50% more than the Taipan.

When I designed the Viper I was very conscious that the weight for most crews for F16 was 120 to 150 kg (165 - 330 lb). Hence I designed the Viper with plenty of buoyancy to carry this crew weight. Too much buoyancy in a hull design is only a very small penalty in performance, but an under buoyant boat is a much bigger penalty.

Having extra buoyancy has the added benefit of making the boat safer and more comfortable to sail.
Regards,
Greg


Hi all,

now I will preface this by making it clear I represent a manafacturer, being Formula Catamarans Australia. But I find it difficult to just accept statements like those from Greg without knowing what tests and statistics they are based on.

I think if we had statistics of Volume and Stiffness tests comparing the different F16's being built at present, you could then make such statements. But until these tests are conducted and statistics published, I think it would be more accurate to describe the Viper as one of the higher Volume and Stiffer platforms on the market. Rather than "the most bouyant and stiffest".