Jerry,

One thing you really must keep in mind is that every boat sails just a little different, even 2 boats of the same make. Differences in crew weight, set up sail conditions etc all come into play. Sailing a catamaran is all about hull speed. You have leverage in cats and it needs to be used to its full advantage. The biggest mistake I see people on the race course doing, is trying to point with or higher than the guy next to them. It takse some time to learn where your boat sails well, but you need to sail it and not your neighbors. They may be pinching, or in the posts sailing a different design. If you can not out point them, do not try, just go fast and as high as your boat will go.

The F16 will sail as high in either set up (Uni or Sloop). This is contingent on not getting overpowered when adding the jib and still being single. If it is controlled no loss in pointing will occure and you can go faster. When another 125 lbs++ of crew is added, the boat will now not be able to point so well so do not try, use the leverage to generate move speed. The extra set of hands will allow you to keep proper trim on all sails all the time, which means the boat is more condition dependant on which is faster in which configuration.

One thing we have noticed is that on the Blade we seem to be able to point as high or higher than most of the boats we have been sailing against. I am attributing this to the battened jib, which really provides much better control of the sail, and makes it possible to keep the slot controled in all conditions.

The biggest thing is first learning it, then just sailing the boat you are on.

Sail fast.

Matt