Sorry, it can not be easily incorporated into the VWM Blade F16.

They took large round alu tubes and rolled them into a more rectangular section with large corner roundings. A bit like a boxed oval. This extra material and the stress hardening makes the beams stiffer for the same frontal area. The also ended up with a flat section on top and bottom of beam and used that to fit 4 bolts per side. The beamlanding is probably more rigorously reinforced as well. All together this lead to a very stiff platform.

VWM Blade F16 beamlanding doe not have the shape that will take rolled beams. Neither is there room for 4 bolts per side and we can't chance the stiffness of the beam landing much after the hulls have been cured.

Having said all this, I feel we must not loose ourselfs. The Stealth F16 is a very stiff boat in my personal experience. A very good achievement since F16's are build very light, less material to play with

My own Taipan (homebuild) is much more flexible. However I do not feel that my boat is too flexible for the racing I do. I feel both boats have ample stiffness for good performance and handling, just one has alot more stiffness. The Blade F16 of VWM should be noticeably stiffer then my own boat, while still being less stiff then the Stealth. In this way the blade should have more then enough stiffness for good performance and handling. I think johns test experience underlines this.

Lets not get obsessed with it.

One thing though, as standard the Blades are delivered with only washers under the bolt heads. Having a large block as depicted earlier should make the connentions stiffer (when a proper material is selected for the blocks). You could try that.

One other thing we must not forget is that during the first season you need to tighten the bolts a few times. The bolts will unscrew themselfs when they are still really clean and a bit greasy. Dirt and old grease will lock them up better. ALso the laminate work and bolt-beam setup will deform a little initially under the first full loads.

I had to retighten my bolts 5 to 6 times in the first season and each time I won alot of stiffness, and loose it again after 2 to 3 times of sailing. For all we know the Singapore boat could have been in need of that. After the boat has been properly broken in everything should settle down.

Also don't degrease your bolts when they are new. These Stainless steel bolts can fuse (cold weld) themselfs tight when they are too clean. You can never again undo them and you'll have to cut them out. So have them lubricated dureing the first season and just tighten them often. Following season everything should be alright.

Wouter