“For me and my area, my crew and I are around 165kg, sail in everything from dead flat drifters to 3m swell + a real ugly chop and 30+ kts and therefore an F18 is the boat for us.”
If I had a smaller crew and was sailing on a lake or some area with less chop maybe a F16 would be the go.
On the other hand, if I lost 20kg and were sailing alone (once again on a lake or similar) it would be a difficult decision between the F14 & 16.”
>>>First of all I solute you if you can sail any beach cat in a true sustained 30+kts, with any degree of control or survival. 30+knts on a 7’-10” X 20” high wind sailboard is a handful (and fun) for the experienced…let alone a catamaran…maybe you exaggerated a bit…LOL…maybe more than a bit….LOL… If you are inclined to exaggerate as much as my windsurfing buddies 30 knts is usually read as 22-25 mph on the wind gauge….LOL and when it’s truly blowing 30 knots they swear up and down it’s 50 mph…LOL If you truly are that good, my apologies…
>>>It’s funny you and I are looking at the F-14 platform from opposite perspectives. …I personally would rather be on a smaller platform when in high winds, heavy seas, and on a larger one in lighter winds… I use to love riding, (and on rare occasions) jumping waves in the mouth of our inlet and offshore reefs with my Hobie 14…it was a drag when the wind was light…but once the wind came up it was a blast.
>>>I can see why you would like to share the experience with a crew if they were up to the task. I agree that your equipment of choice might increase your versatility.
>>>Personally I would rather be out with a couple of F-14’s, instead on one F-18. To me it would kind of be like surfing VS surfing tandem. It’s just more fun when you are on a platform that is lighter and more responsive.
>>>Of course I am talking about playing around in the swells (in the Atlantic Ocean in my case), not racing. To me “high performance playing around” is way under rated by the sailing community, and “racing” is way over rated. The impromptu racing that happens every time two boats meet on the water satisfies any racing needs I might have…LOL
>>>There is another potential here that hasn’t been touch upon…making an F-14 that can be quickly broken down and set up. With a Minimum weight of 60 kg, the parts could be easily shuttled to and from the beach and assembled by a single person. About the same as carrying two kayaks down to the beach. In essences, if you could windsurf a spot, you could sail it with your F-14. Two adults could carry the assembled hulls/deck beams /tramp/rudders in one trip. This could open up a lot of coast that is not currently open to Catamarans.
>>>This might not be a factor in your area, but where I live there is no way to Ocean launch from the beach because of Sea Turtle protection. If you can carry it down to the waters edge everything is fine…but there is no way to move a 400 lb assembled boat from the parking lot to the water (unless you are going to bring six people to carry it in the soft sand…no cat trax...and if you could find a place wide enough for it to pass thru.) The alternative is to sail it out the inlet which was fine years ago (like I did with my h-14)…but now when the fishing tournaments have as many as 400 boats (plus at least that many in normal traffic) it is hard to thread the needle with a power boat let alone a un-powered sailboat. Add to the mix trying to tack into the predominately on-shore wind, and tacking against a 5 mph tide when it is comming in. You soon come to the reality that there is no where to go in this constricted waterway.
>>>Regards,
>>>Bob
