Sorry to hear about the damage to your stuff.
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<br>>> I plan on doing a more studied analysis of the mast rake/spinnaker set using my Speedmate II and the GPS. We are blessed with fairly steady onshore winds beginning in October so the points of sail should be easy to compare.
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<br>Ohh, this sounds great. And very timely for I will have to decide wether to go for a full Taipan 4.9 mainsail or a recut one in the near future. And as you know all depends on the expected mast rake.
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<br>As you know I'm especially interested in upwind and down VMG's and the difference between Genaker downwind VMG and Non-Genaker downwind VMG. Data like this could be VERY important in establizing a n effective and fair Weigh Equalization system. Remember the controversy around my claim that a bigger jib has more impact than a bigger genaker ? As you know I already have some raw data from the hobie nationals and Greece, but the data needs to become more accurate and relative to F16HP's.
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<br>About other experiences with the genaker setups; I can only comment for myself and I found the Hobie genaker bag to be the best of three different bags I ever used. I speeded up my setting and retrieving of the genaker. I will try to make a picture of it and place it on the web.
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<br>Further more I handled my 19 sq.mtr. genaker on my P18 while solo sailing and on a hobie dragoon ( 10 - 12 sq.mtr.) which I sailed solo in Greece and found that setting a genaker solo from the bag is not a problem. I even found it to be faster than the snuffer systems on skiffs and monohulls which I also sailed alot this season. I had absolutely no problems on the dragoon when retieving the genaker and it took me about 4 seconds to do it in. On my P18 I had more difficulty, although it was doable and it was the first time I tried it completely solo. I put it down to practice. This is for solo sailing, where I feel that a shooter like system (marstrom snail) is probably the best option. For crew sailing I think that the manual system will prove to be unbeatable in the end. Some things have to change on board between skipper and crew tasks but once that has been worked out it allows for very fast sets and retrievals. I now have a Hobie genaker bag on my boat. However my season is over and there will not be any more real life experiences from me for the next 6 months.
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<br>Just the other day, when I sailed the 49-er look alike RS 800 , I withness a Hobie FX-one sailor with genaker who did everything manual (no snuffer) in 4 beaufort wind ( max 15 knots) without any problems. My colleque said that it didn't furl so it must have been a genaker and not a hooter or something.
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<br>Ohh john, I know Phill (as well as myself) are very interested in the difference between upwind VMG with the snuffer filled with a genaker and the VMG upwind with just the pole (No snuffer bag and genaker). So if you have the change ?
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<br>I know alot of requests but I'm certain that these experiments will answer a few question marks and help the development of the F16HP weight equalization system
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<br>Wouter<br><br>