I think quite a few of us have sailed that way at one time or another. You can do it, that is not the question.

The reason the F16 class doesn't RACE this way in their official class races is because without the jib on the 1-up version it is as good as equal around the course as the 2-up version. This means we can have a single start and scoring.

It was regarded as advantageous to have this feature in the F16 class as many early members were struggling with finding committed crews. So we made switching from 1-up to 2-up and back again very easy all the way up to the first race of the series. Of course during an event you have to stay with the chosen setup or receive agreement from all other participants to change setups.

This versatility, one that has served us very well over the years, was valued as more important then the added performance of the jib for the 1-up setup.

From a technical point of view there is another reason why to leave the jib on shore when 1-up. Typically the jib adds about 15% more heeling moment to the boat where the singlehanded crew only has 60% of the righting moment while trapezing (and 68% when only one person of 2-up is trapezing). However, both typically use the same mainsail. I personally regarded it to be smart to removed the jib and make the inbalance between sail design (power => heeling moment) and righting moment significantly smaller between the two setups. Especially the difference between 2-up with one in trapeze and singlehanding (= mid range winds) is slashed in half by this decision.

A quick calculations will show what I mean :

2-up and 1 in trapeze => 100% power against 89% righting moment (100% = double trapezing) => ratio = 113%
1-up and trapezing => 85 % power against 68% righting moment => ratio = 125%


If the 1-up was sailing with a jib then the ratio would be 147 %.

It is one of those little tweaks that help equalize performance between both setups. And it allows a mainsail that was optimized for 2-up sailing to still be very reasonable for 1-up sailing. Of course one sail for both setups = inexpensive ! And keeping the F16 class affordable was another important goal during the creation of the F16 class.


Wouter