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.
There is at least one timber homebuild Taipan 4.9 in USA, Micheal Coffmans old build. I believe it is sailnumber 32, so it is an oldie as well (15+ years), but well maintained all the way up to Micheal sold it on. I don't know its condition now as I have lost track of this boat.
I agree with Eric that Taipan seem incredibally aging resistant; even the timber homebuild. It is not a rare occurance for a crew to win the Aussie national titles while sailing a 15 year old "woody".
Wouter
