Bit of repect there Wouter.
Firstly, compare boats of equal size to each other.
Okay, I will now compare the 49-er and the Taipan F16 both of which I sailed and rigged often. Both boats are very comparable in their dimensions.
I have not rigged or sailed a 49er, however there rig tension is a lot less than a skiff. This includes the shorter 12 footer........ See above 9ers not skiffs.
I wrote earlier that we never used more then a simple 4:1 boat breaker on the 49-er.
Don't know much about the boat beaker you used on the 49er, however check out the one on the 18 above. firstly you pull as much tension on with the system using the 6 to 1 block set up. This is direct 6:1 down on the fore stay. After you have muscled that, then you crank on the 4:1 system that is on the end of a LOT of leverage. This is a LOT more than direct purchase on the fore stay. If you doubt me, set up this simple system and give it a go.
Okay, I will now compare the 49-er and the Taipan F16 both of which I sailed and rigged often. Both boats are very comparable in their dimensions.
The F16 has higher rig loads during sailing then the 49-er. In the way of leech and luff tensions on the sail it is not even a comparison. The F16 (luff and leech) loads are many times higher. Especially with the large squaretops.
I have raced both Taipans and F16 sloops and sorry mate, the rig tension even under sail is a LOT more on a smaller 12 foot skiff.
Whilst the Taipan may have fair purchase on the main (7:1 on the ones I sailed), you did not use it all. Over sheeting was far to easy on these tiny cats and would very quickly desort the rig and sail. If I pulled on the main anywhere near what we did with the boat breakers, you would not have a rig left in the T4.9
It is my experience that skiff spinnaker are flown alot more dead downwind then cat spinnakers, their luffs being alot more loose. So I'm not too sure whether a 3 times greater skiff spi actually loads the mast up more then the lot smaller but tighter luffed + more reaching oriented catamaran spinnakers.
We have sailed many times head to head with these monos and the angles are actually very simular. A cat is all about using low drag and efficency for speed. Skiffs are brute force. There is nothing suptle about it. Grab hold of an 18 kite and it feels like you are about to be pulled threw the blocks. My last ride upfront was on a I14 and whislt the kites are not as big as skiffs, the load was a lot greater than the Tornado. Monos don’t accelerate like a cat when graced by a gust and the loads are really taken up by the rig and the poor sucker holding the sheet. I recently jumped from Cherub to F16 to 12 skiff to Tornado to I14 to F18 and even the smallest mono (AUS Cherub) had larger kite loads than the Tornado.
I sailed my share of skiffs and all were notoriously difficult to handle on any high broad reaching or reaching. So we mostly did upwind and very deep downwind.
Wouter
You have not sailed a skiff until you have sailed a 12, 16 or 18 footer…… Until then, you can not fully appreciate a true skiff. It is like sailing an F16 and saying that you have experience what a Tornado has to offer………. Different league mate, different league.
