The Taipan 4.9 was designed and built by Greg Goodall and Jim Boyer. The 4.9 enjoyed two distinct one design classes: cat rigged one-up and slooped rigged two-up. The cat rigged class has been won by the likes of Glenn Ashby. About 8 years or so ago the boat became a foundation boat for the F16 class. By adding a spinnaker, several 4.9 transformed their boats into giant killer F16s.

Taipans are extremely well built by AHPC despite their light weight. Older boats are often very stiff and well kept, so some used boats hold their value very well. Compared to the Inter/Nacra 17, the Taipan is much, much lighter but has similar performance--a good comparison might be corvette vs lotus; both get around the track fast, one by brute force horsepower, the other by power with finesse. The 4.9 will carry two adults or one adult and two youth but can be sailed and righted by most adults solo. The Inter 17 is a bigger boat and may carry more crew weight but would be hard to right solo.

I'm not familiar with specific problems with the boat and have had none with mine. I have heard some people say the rear beam should be beefier, but the boat seems very stiff as designed. Parts are readily available, either locally or directly from AHPC--I've ordered things from time to time directly from the factory.

The Taipan 4.9 had several options that affect weight, durability, stiffness, and value:

Hulls--foam sandwich with either two layers standard polyester fiberglass, one layer standard and one layer kevlar glass, or both layers of kevlar glass

Foils--carbon fiber or standard dagger boards and rudders

Rudder stocks--aluminum or carbon fiber

Sail--originally a modest fat head; recent class vote now allows a larger fat head

Cat rigged--no jib or jib hardware; one set of traps; some have a more flexible superwing mast than the sloops

Sloop rigged--jib with blocks and sheet, two sets of traps

Note that my comments are relative to factory built Taipans. The rules allow home building the boat too, and there are several timber 4.9s in Australia and maybe one or two in Europe but none in North America.

Overall, the Taipan 4.9 is a superb boat for racing or recreation. It is a very responsive boat and the rig is somewhat sophisticated compared to most purely recreational boats; in fact, even the newest F16s have rigs very similar to the Taipan 4.9. Its only drawback is cost--their excellent built and design qualities help them hold their value. Unlike a Hobie 16, for example, a 10 year old 4.9 may be as competitive as a new boat.

Photo of me sparring with an A2 A-class Cat see http://www.flickr.com/photos/49238728@N00/2628079259/

Best of luck!