Hi Wouter
Thanks for the accuracy rating.

Can sum it up by saying that in terms of deflection from 'most flexible' to 'least flexible' (from what I have seen).. Blade - Taipan - Viper. Enough said. We don't have Spitfires etc here to measure so I can't comment on those.

Viper 137kg
You should know how much each daggerboard and rudder weighs from an F18! Pre-production Vipers used these but the Viper foils (same profile as the Capricorns but different layup) are way lighter. They'll never weigh the same as the Taipan ones as they are a lot longer. But at 1.5 v's 2.2 kgs (per daggerboard Taipan v's Viper), its not a huge difference.

But I have this to say about the weight issue.
There aren't that many manufacturers who can effectively build a cat to the paltry weight of the Taipan! That boat is a real benchmark - that takes some doing. Certainly the big manufacturers can't (won't do it) so that leaves it up to the smaller custom builders. If the platform weights stabilise at a reasonable level then maybe, the big cat factories might get interested in building cats for the class. When (if) that happens, it will be a good day for all parties. More manufacturers means more interest. More interest means a bigger class. A bigger class means more competition on-the-water and between factories - that's ultimately good for the end user!

Interestingly
The Viper straddles both the F16 and the F104 almost perfectly! The 'bare' Viper suits F16 Class add a few kg's and its a perfect fit in F104 - that's pretty handy!

More interesting
It will be much more interesting if I set up the standard Blade and the Hybrid Blade and use the same test. That way I can comment directly about how we improved the deflection by using the F18 beams.

One thing for sure we are never going to have any beam issues with those beams installed on an F16! If they can take the loads of the F18 they'll have no worries with a lightweight F16.

Carbon
If weight savings is the real deal, then I can tell you that soon there'll be Carbon rudder stocks available for Taipan, A-Class and Blade with Viper ones to follow a bit later. These are under going development right now at a factory in Asia and will be released soon.

In any case, I look forward to getting the Hybrid back on the water this weekend for another shake down!

cheers