Andreas,
How come you say:
"Those hulls are not in high regard among designers"
which designers, who has said that?
I'm not going to name names, but make several guesses and you will most probably have guessed right in all cases. Also I've received several comments of jav 2 sailors and "rear beam slapping the waves" and "holding back on downwind due to insufficient volume in the bow" are recurring comments. Also Will Sunnocks was quite vocal on the internet after doing the Tybee 500 on a jav2. Add to this the comments on the HT website itself and all the mods to the gunboat and I think you will understand what I use as basis for these comments. Also the mathematics don't work out well when shortening the jav2 hull. These combined don't make for a promising picture.
"They are already struggling in waves"
Have you ever sailed a Javelin? I guess not, but I did and I was suprised how nice it was to sail through a choppy 0.5 - 1m sea, compared to my ventilo. Mutch less motion!
I have not sailed the Jav 2 myself, but I trust my sources that have sailed it. I would be surprised if the ventilo is worse than the jav2 I'll admit to that, but no matter how good or bad the Ventilo is itself the Jav2 is not in high regard among cat designers. The relationship between jav2 and ventilo is of not importance in this.
Have you looked at the movies from the ICCT 2003. Sometimes the conditions where there quite choppy too.
Yes in 2004 it was said that the Gunboat HT cleaned up because its modified and raised beams stayed clear of the water. Andreas, I'm not making this all up. More than enough support for my statements are publically available on the net. Even from other HT sailors. When looking at the jav A the same comparisons to true flyers appear. Besides Tim has owned a jav2 himself and knows exactly how it sails. And also, I really don't think many jav2 potential buyers are tuning in to the F16 forum.
I think we should not bash other boats and designs, every boat has advantages and disadvantages.
Hold on Andreas, I'm not bashing another design. I'm giving well foundated advice to a sailor considering buying a Jav2 that is going for a junk price and modify it into a full compliant F16. And I'm doing so on the FORMULA 16 forum. Don't make it out to be more than it is.
Lets face it the crews are not selling the jav2's at go broke prices because they are so happy with the boat. Also I have acces to various design experiment with regard to F16 design and I can tell everybody that the right volume placement is crucial in the F16's. Getting this right is hard to do when taking another 18 foot design and cutting it to F16 length. It involves alot of work and the end result may well be less then perfect. Also the Jav2 uses 3 mm thick beams and relatievely heavy hulls; It will be hard to get to F16 min weight. Than I'm not sure wether the bows will take a single forestay and jib. It could be made to work as a singlehander only (maybe) but not as a doublehander. Sure one may sad 1000-2000 bucks but one would still feel pretty silly when boats like the 12.000 US$ Blade F16 are both faster and alot more well mannered. If one could save 4000-5000 US$ then maybe but not with only 1000-2000 US$ savings.
All I can tell you, that I am quite happy with my 18HT, regardless that I sailed on the Taipan and F18 in different conditions.
Pardon my frankness, please, but it really doesn't matter whether you are happy with it or not. The question was and is whether is it is advisable to buy one cheap and convert it into a F16. The answer, with reason and when looking at how it is unmodified, is "very probably not".
Hey all the best and I hope to see you in Texel!
That I fully agree with. I'm most probably going to be there and will look you up. Will you be there the whole week ? If so than I would love a ride on your HT.
there are allready some 18HT registered and I guess there will be even more!
Good ! I guessing several Spitfires will be out as well and a few F16's. Any chance of you asking a few of the Swiss Taipan 4.9 sailors to come out ?
Wouter
