Hi guys.

That Blade is actually at my club in Singapore (Changi Sailing Club) where we have a fleet of 20 Taipans and now hopefully a few Blades joining in too.

It has wood/epoxy hulls, Goodall wingmast rig. The main beams are carbon with kevlar inserts under the mast and no dolphin striker. The rear beam is 50/50 carbon/glass. The beams are carbon as these are cheaper than importing aluminium beams from AHPC for the Taipans.

The boat is being put together by Pro-sail Asia in Malaysia, the local Taipan agent as the costs of importing boats from Aus has gone through the roof due to a 30% change in the exchange rate!

I haven't seen the boat in action against the Taipans yet but it looks superb in the flesh.