[color:"black"] [/color] Greetings,

I'm not sure but I think that Nacra F16 Eric referred to is mine. But in any case, I am building a Nacra F16 and do hope to be up and sailing by the time the next "cat fight" in California comes along in late June.

I'm starting out with a relatively new, if somewhat seedy looking Nacra 5.0 that I pretty much got for a song and didn't sing very well. I'll be using the Nacra mast and having the sails recut by Skip Elliott, who is very knowledgable (he's made all the sails for Nacra for years!) and a GREAT guy. He's also going to give me a quote on a gennaker, but since he's quite reasonably, I'm not too worried.

And while I'm under NO illusions about how competitive I'll be (overweight & no daggerboards), I'm still looking forward to getting out on the water and raising some hull.
And, yes, a pair of either Taipan or Blade ply hulls may loom on the horizon. If so, I'll simply move the sails and hardware over and shazaam - a reasonably close to state of the art F16.

According to the folks at Nacra, who are also being quite helpful, there are well over 1000 5.0's out there. My take is many of those are languishing in backyards and can be "had" at a VERY reasonable price.

And while a new Blade of Taipan may be THE preferred way to go, I plan to be up and sailing for around a $1000.00, depending on the cost of the gennaker.


So thanks to both Eric and Wouter (way to go, guys) both of whom have been quite helpful. See you on the water!

John Metzig
Hesperia, CA
Nacra F16 - USA 74