I will weigh in around 360 lbs and that is too heavy for the F16HP. Contrary to previous post about racing the F16HP with that much weight, you can do it but you just won't be competitive.
If we are talking about the standard Taipan 4.9 (with spi) then I agree with you, however the never F16 designs like the Blade and Stealth do really carry weight noticeably better. I probably should have underlined this difference more clearly in my previous posting.
Last time I "raced" against a VWM Blade F16 I could barely keep up while they had at least 160 kg on board (= min. 353 lbs); my combined weight on the Taipan F16 was max. 147 kg (= max 325 lbs). One of that Blade crew owned a Taipan 4.9 at the time and decided right after that test sail to sell it and buy a Blade. He just picked his new boat up 3 days ago.
They were competitive alright; at 160+ kgs. We both hit 18 knots under spinnaker that day during a gust, but they slowly walked away anyway. We were single trapping upwind so the wind was not so strong as to direcly favour the heavier crew.
Wouter
