A number of good points have been made pro and con for wings on an F16, but for recreational sailing I don't want this topic to die without a little more discussion and debate.

Specifically, the concern has been raised that the F16 hulls/structure were not designed for wings and that they may be stressed by adding them. I countered that it would be hard to argue if wings were used while sailed double handed, but that it seemed unlikely to me that a singlehanded sailor on wings would stress the F16 anywhere close to what occurs when an F16 is sailed double handed without wings currently.

Wouter, can you run your magic with the numbers and compare these two scenarios assuming the wing offest is 1 foot (sport wings) vs 2 feet (comfort wings)?

My back of the napkin calculation is that increasing the righting force by adding one or two feet to the beam of the boat with one person aboard (and therefore the maximum possible stress on the boat) is less than the righting force generated by two people without wings.

Finally, I'm curious if there is likely to be any differnce in hull strength (and overall structural integrity) among the various F16 designs, ie, would the hulls of the Blade, Taipan, or Stealth be any stronger or better suited to be adapted with wings? This might be moot if singlehanding with wings loads the boat less than doublehanding without wings.

I want my MTV (wings)...

Thanks,

Jerry