The one Taipan 4.9 w/ spinnaker that was in CRAM (Catamaran Racing Assoc. of Michigan) was traded in for a Nacra F17. We never saw the Taipan (or any other F16-type boat) again. When Jerry made the trade, he said the F17 is a much better single-handed boat, mostly because it was designed as a single-handed boat and the processes of putting up and taking down the spinnaker are well thought out, knowing you only have two hands to do what needs to be done. This includes the balanced and self-centering steering system, the single line spinnaker halyard/retreival system, the access to rotation and downhaul lines, all designed to help the single-handed skipper.

Seven new F17s were sold by the Michigan Nacra dealer this year, and the fleet is having a great time with the F17. At last weekend's regatta, the F17 Fleet in CRAM was 2/3 of all registered boats.

There is lots of talk about the F17 Fleet performance at the Nacra F18 World Championships, where the F17 fleet started 5 minutes after the F18 Fleet and the lead boats of the F17s were working their way through the F18 Fleet and finishing consistently in the top 5 of the F18 fleet! Most surprised were the F18 World Champions from Holland. They had not seen the F17, a completely different boat than the N17 marketed in Europe. And this happened before Matt Struble entered the F17 Fleet. This year, Matt won the first 13 races. He flipped his boat in the 14th race and recovered to finish 4th. He won the only other race this year, now having 14 1st place finishes in 15 races. I wonder what would have happened if Matt had competed at last year's Championships. He is much faster than last year's Champion so far this year.

So Michigan racers picked the Nacra F17 and all involved believe they made the right choice.