I want to thank Michael Coffman for taking me, a total stranger, sailing on his Taipan 4.9 for 3 hours Wednesday. That's how to get people stoked on this sport...



Awesome boat. The wind was light, but Michael showed me all the tuning gismos--you gotta see that METAL wing mast to believe it. A lot more strings than my N5.0. Great performance value. You get less pounds per dollar but more performance per dollar compared to Hfx-1, I17-R.



Why isn't anyone marketing this boat in the U.S.? A true U.S. dealer would be great--someone who could offer support, bring shipping costs down by multiboat orders, and facilitate the F16HP movement.



Thanks again Michael. Send me your email address.

Eric,



There is such a dealer! W.F. Oliver has brought a couple of container loads of Australian High Performance Cats (Makers of Taipans) into the USA. He has several AHPC boats in stock right now. His e-mail is [email][email protected].[/email] I had a bad experience with an AHPC product, but understand it to be rare. W.F. made this bad situation better through excellent service and by taking the whole boat back. He is getting me into a new Bimare instead.



W.F. also imports the Bimare line of cats, including their F-18HT and F-16HP product. I like the way the Bimares are put together and the way they look.



Steve

I'm very happy to hear that you like the boat very much. Both myself and Micheal had much the same entry to the class and than I was made aware that the boat really comes to live with increasing wind speeds.



>>Why isn't anyone marketing this boat in the U.S.?



Personally I don't understand why the US importer of AHPC products isn't marketing the Taipan 4.9 design more noticably. However I think the F16 class does more than compensate for that.



>>A true U.S. dealer would be great



Well these dealors/agents are around. For example Kirt Simmons has been very active in promoting the Taipan 4.9 design and helping people out when needed. And I must say that people like Micheal Coffman are doing more than their fair share of activities that normally an importer would deploy.



>>someone who could offer support, bring shipping costs down by multiboat orders, and facilitate the F16HP movement.



Currently this is all done by the F16 class itself in direct communication with AHPC.



By the way the F16 class does receive valuable support from AHPC. See the other post about the Goodall wingmasts.



Wouter

I'm glad that you enjoyed the experience.

I agree that it's disappointing that there is no active promoter/dealer for the T4.9 in the U.S. There is a ton of interest. I really hope that AHPC will quickly find someone in the U.S. to sell AND promote their product.

Good luck with your current boat, and congratulations when you get your 4.9!

My e-mail is fastcatmichael@hotmail.com, and I can get you some info. on buying the T4.9

Michael Coffman

T4.9#32

Steve,



What was the problem you had with an AHPC product? And was that product a Taipan or one of the A-cats. I've heard nothing but positive feedback from owners of both Taipans and A-cats. Was your problem a fluke or a pattern?



A dealer on the East coast is really not that helpful for me--anyone on the left coast?



Also, is the new Bimare 16ft unirig cat intended for F16HP? From earlier posts, it sounds like the boat was not really designed with F16HP in mind (not optimized or compliant).



Just trying to get info...

Eric,



please e-mail me at wouterhijink@hotmail.com



with regard to a new Bimare 16 ft cat. I expect it to be a uni rig version as that would be consistent with the design philosephy of mr. Petrucci. Apart from that I 'm not aware of any specifications despite inquiries; even as far back as spring time 2002 when it was briefly announced on the Bimare website and removed a few weeks later. I immediately informed about their plans to make sure we wouldn't end up in awkward situation. I guess we failed at that.



Come to speak of the Bimare website; where has that one gone to. The adress www.bimarecatamarani.com has been inoperative for some weeks now.



Actually I'm quite anxious to see any official confirmation of the "javelin 16" specs. I've read the comments made by Maurizio (thank you Maurizio) or else I still wouldn't have know about the javelin 16. Come to think of it; kinda weird as the chairman of the Formula 16 class. You would guess that I would be informed as one of the first.



Well lets just wait and see what Bimare and W.F. come up with. (just e-mail W.F. with the request to give me more information)



Wouter

Eric,



Here is the short story of my problem with my AHPC (makers of Taipans) boat, which you asked about. My brand new, one day old, AHPC Flyer's bows split top and bottom, port and starboard! This is not an isolated problem and has occurred in at least half of the new AHPC Flyers in the USA.



My dealer, after a little letter exchange, made things right by allowing a full rebate. W.F. did the stand up thing. I was upset that the problem was known by AHPC and not made public until after I bought my boat. I am know back to being a happy sailor, now that the issue is behind me.



Steve

Thanks for the info guys.

Hi all,



Steve has made a comment re "his bad experience with AHPC" a couple of times now, and I feel I need to explain "his bad experience"



In July this year we began to notice a fault which appeared in some of our Flyers bows. At this time, we did not know exactly how many of the Flyers had this fault and were running tests on all boats. The recent A-Class world titles at Martha's Vineyard enabled us to determine that only 11 boats were affected.



All of these boats (except 1... Steve's) has been repaired to the satisfaction of the owners.



Steve was not at the World titles, and before we had an opportunity to notify Steve that his boat had a problem, we received a very blunt letter from his solicitor demanding that we "take the boat back" and "give him a complete refund". We emailed him on a number of occassions, only to be told "do not attempt to contact my client".



WF Oliver did "take his boat back" and gave him a complete refund.



We would love to talk to Steve re this matter, but cannot get him to communicate with us in any way. I am still very stunned that anyone would react in this manner.



We have a warranty on our boats which I believe to be second to none.



If anyone requires more information regarding this incident, I would be very willing to communicate with you directly (especially you, Steve) on ahpc@ahpc.com.au



Regards Helen (Australian High Performance Catamarans)

I am not aware of an issue of the type that affected Steve occurring to Taipans (or Auscats for that matter) which, unlike the Flyer, are both designed and built by AHPC.



Without knowing the full facts I would venture the assumption that the issue with Steve's Flyer originated from AHPC learning to build someone else's design under license which required a different construction technique from their own. The AHPC site details how the Flyer A class boats are built by AHPC in accordance with Flyer's specifications with only two bulkheads internally with reliance placed upon the hull skin and seams for structural integrity. This is quite a different structure from the AHPC designed products such as the T 4.9.



I certainly wouldn't let Steve's unfortunate experience be an issue when considering a T 4.9. It is a design has a lot more miles under the keel than most other current boats and one where any issues inherent in it's design and manufacture have been well resolved in it's ten years of manufacture.



Cheers





James

T 4.9 AUS 153 'Woof"

Steve,
A bit of clarification...
WF is not the Taipan dealer for the U.S. He is (unfortunately, as we all know what a great marketer he is ) strictly a dealer/promoter of the AHPC A-classes, and the whole Bim line.
You need to contact Chip Zenke or Kirk Newkirk about Taipans.
Thanks,
Michael Coffman