Hi Nick

Keep posting the information on your mainsail. This is definitely the right place for it. It's great to have someone making the effort to try out an idea like this. There's no other way to find out if it will work.

The Taipan is wider as well as having the taller & bigger rig. You are right that in most other respects it's like a Mosquito.

Mosquitos are competitive in a drifter, but as the wind increases bigger cats get on trap earlier and leave the Mosquitos behind. Once the Mozzies get on trap they are back in the race.

As far as performance goes, what we see at regattas in Victoria is:

• Cat rigged Taipans are definitely slower than sloop rigged Taipans once everyone is trapezing.
• Cat rigged Mosquitos are slightly slower than sloop rigged Mosquitos above 15 knots and in waves.
• Cat rigged Mosquito is faster than sloop in 10 knots or less.
• Well sailed Taipans are a lot faster than well sailed Mosquitos (note: despite the rumours even a Mosquito with a spinnaker can still be beaten on handicap by a good Taipan - see last year's
  Wildcat results).
• However,a Taipan that is not sailed well performs well below it's handicap and can be beaten around the course by a well sailed Mosquito.
• A Mosquito with a spinnaker is fun to sail in everything up to 20 knots (maybe more) whereas the Taipans do not want to use spinnakers in 20 knots (what's the point when you are already at terminal velocity ).