On Sunday, the winds were strong enough to fly a hull most of the time with the spinnaker downwind. Too bad they didn't get a picture then. When sailing the Taipan 4.9 uni without spinnaker, you get a break on the downwind legs but not so when sail with the spinnaker. I have found that sailing the F16HPU is quite a workout and often find myself breathing quite heavy by the end of the race. (As you can see in the third picture.)

When I first started sailing with the spinnaker, I had the sheets running through 2 ratch blocks on each side of the boat like everyone else but still had difficulty sheeting in because of the load. I have since then added a purchase simmilar to the way it is done on the jib. There are 2 blocks attached to the clew of the spinnaker and only 1 ratch block on each side of the boat. I can sheet in alot easier with the added purchase and I have found the spinnaker dumps alot faster when I let go of the sheet because it only travels through 1 ratch block. On the down side, the blocks on the spinnaker clew sometimes get caught on the forestay when jibing and the spinnaker sheet is almost twice as long as before. I keep making adjustments to this setup so some day I hope to minimize these drawbacks. Without these changes though, I do not think I would be able to sail the boat with the spinnaker by myself.

I hope to see more F16HPU's on the race course soon.

Jennifer Lindsay
Taipan 4.9 #262