Wouter,

>> I think it feels more comfortable to the behind of both skipper and crew. You have a more rounded gunwales (?)

The gunwales on my boat are more rounded than on the fibreglass hulls. I quite like this look, a little more sleek looking.

I also have the hole through each hull through which to run the trapeze shockcord. I'm somewhat ambivalent about this system. Most of the time it is great but when the sea is a bit rough and you need to move along the hull while on trapeze the shockcord can get in the way of your feet making it necessary to lift your foot off the boat and around the exit point of the shockcord rather than being able to just shuffle along the hull. This is a minor gripe with this system and only really is a problem for me when it's rough. Given the choice I would choose to have it and put up with it in the rough.

>>I fear that some may well be forbidden by the Taipan 4.9 one-design rules. I'm not even sure wether teh rounded decks are allowed; isn't there some template it needs to conform too ?

There is a template that the hulls must conform to but I have never seen one. I suspect you are right that the modifcations to the decks that you have made would be disallowed. It may be however that the tempate is for the bow, bottom and transom of the hull and doesn't measure the decks. (Does anyone who is reading this know? Jim B are you out there?) The Taipan platform is very stiff as it is so your modifications will probably have little or no noticeable effect on the overall stiffness of the platform. The dive recovery aspect of the change is very interesting and we will have to wait till your next summer to see if there is any difference. It is probably going to be difficult to judge this as the Taipan performs very well as it is. I couldn't beleive the difference between the Taipan and my previous boat (Hobie 16). Once the H16 got a sniff of the water above its bow it was pretty much all over. The Taipan seems to be able to submerge its bow and still keep ploughing along. The boat slows of course and you can push it under too far but usually easing the sheet brings the bow out and away you go again. Great fun!!

Rob.