I think this is one of the best things to hit the market in a long time.

I have always said that the Nacra 500 was pretty much the best (teenage) youth boat there is; I think it is better then the SL16 for example. Sadly Nacra never pushed the 500 to its full potential.

However, this Viper club may well be the perfect answer to a deadlocked situation.

It has the excellent superwing (lightweight alu) mast (shared by most F16's) that allows for a surprisingly wide range of tuning thus effectively making the rig suitable to a wide range of crew weights. This mast is also of the new mast variant (not tear drop shaped !) that all modern boats like the A's and F18's are using now. The youth will therefore learn to sail with this kind of mast from the very beginning !

The new club sail area is basically identical to the Nacra 500 (also just right), but the Viper Club is lighter (the one compliant about the nacra 500) and has a modern hullshape with daggers. As such the club version remains fully F16 compliant allowing the youths to both participate in those events or to simply upgrade their boats in time to full (adult) F16 specs by getting a new mainsail and spinnaker (jibs are identical to both versions). I suspect several crews will sell on their old club suit of sails to a new young team when upgrading. In short, the "F16 Viper Club" is the true racing boat for youths with an undeniable growth path towards adult (full spec) performance sailing that is on a par with the best of performance cats out there (such as the F18 and A's)


Smart move, guys and girls !

No doubt about it.


Of course, supplying the boats for the US youth championships in addition to also supplying them to the US Alter Cup (adult) championships is another brilliant move !

Wouter