Hi guys,

Gary, I`m quite intrigued by your comments, our perception from SA is that the Aus Mozzie sailors have always been faster than their sloop counterparts, is this just a factor of the best sailors in the fleet choosing to sail solo ?

My findings in the Mozzie fleet in SA after last weekends racing : The solo mozzie (with spin) is as fast as the sloop (also with spin) in up to 12 knots, and even faster downwind, but suffers a bit upwind in more breeze, and can`t sail as high for speed downwind, but this is seldom necessary unless you overstand the gybe & come in hot to the bottom mark. Then of course the take-down becomes cute (interesting, but ugly). Sailing solo I won`t be too keen on hoisting in more than 18 knots. I`m imagining that the full F16 will find it`s limits a bit sooner, but other factors come into play so I could be very wrong. More bouyancy, more width, higher aspect main with more twist-off at the top could make it even more manageable. My theory has always been to keep the power as low as you can so it`s pushing you more forward than sideways / over the nose, which is why I like low-aspect ratio rigs, then again maybe my 67kg weight is not up to a full F16 rig !!

These are just my observations and of course will differ from those sailing full F16 boats. All I can say is having done 90% of my sailing as sloop, solo is a ton of hard work with the kite up, but what a ride !!!