Maybe I could have found this elsewhere, but do poles have to be fixed and stayed? After the NSW states (where we sailed without a kite with the F16HPs) I feel that the F16s lose a fair bit upwind. I know some (and better) sailors don't necessarily agree but we were faster upwind against the top guys than usual. I think we did better than normal tactically, but we also seemed pretty even with speed against Cookie et al; normally we are not consistently in the ball park. Any comments from Willy/Cookie/Andrew & co?
Also, Willy sailed 1-up with pole and snuffer (but no kite) a few weeks before and got hammered by the top standard 1-up Taipan.
All this makes me wonder whether a retractable carbon pole may be faster. 49ers have no trouble supporting them. I know most skiffs favour fixed poles but the windage/weight issues are probably different.