Phill and Wouter,
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<br>thanks for answers. Yes, I agree, it might be good advertisement to be able to say "the F16HP has the same rating as an F18", but this is nothing new, at least not for the Taipan 4.9 (and the Stealth?)
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<br>As it seems that we are currently one of the very few boats that regularly get the chance to race against F18 and/or iF20, please let me share a few of our experiences:
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<br>- in flat water and good winds(both on trapeze), we do very well. This is partly because many of the crews we race against get "over powered" in these conditions, especially with the spinaker around the short courses, while we do not have problems to control this little boat.
<br>- my impression is that we do worse than the bigger boats in light winds and waves, mainly due to hull length and low weight. I say "we" because I cannot say whether this is because of US or THE BOAT. This is a potential argument against an F16 boat.
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<br>- I must clearly state that an F16 boat is not for everyone. While the boats might be able to carry the weight of two male adults, people have to be physically quite flexible and also, because of the responsiveness of the boats, they have to be a lot quicker and concetrated than on an F18 or iF20. The boat is nothing for two men around 180 cm tall, 80 kg each, with jib and Spinnaker. Lets face it, there is just not enough room on the trampoline for all.
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<br>And this is also the reason why I am quite sceptical about the progress of the F16HP class: When most of us men are at the age that they can give boats enough priority and are willing to spent the money for a superb performance catamaran, we usually are no longer young, light, flexible and quick with reactions. My experience with potential and real customers is, that the majority of those that show interest in the Taipan 4.9 are well above 45 and are NOT looking for a racing catamaran.
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<br>Gebhard.<br><br>unreal sailor