Hello all,
I am the new owner of a 2nd hand Taipan 4.9, which I bought with a friend about 4 days ago. being school age, we sail from a club near our school in geelong, and are looking for other F16 owners nearby, either in geelong, or english speaking near Lake Trasimeno(Italy) also looking for sailing tips, chandler reccomendations, and other useful information.
attatched is a photo of our (as yet unnamed) Taipan.
thanks,
Alex Millington

Congratulations on the new boat,looks very nice. No spi gear though?


If you can be a bit more specific on what you want of sailing tips, gear from chandleries etc. I am sure you have come to the right place <img src="http://www.catsailor.com/forums/images/graemlins/smile.gif" alt="" />

Geelong sounds very familiar?

yep, no spi. gear yet, but as we are kinda new to cat sailing and on a budget, that can wait. friend is putting jib blocks on, as the cat has only been sailed in cat rig previously. looking specifically for a melbourne/geelong supplier to buy cheap: harnesses, trap wires, sheets and other useful items (will list according to memory)

in terms of tips;
storage (mast up/down)
rigging (what state of derig can the boat be left in overnight)
will ask about technique when i've had the opportunity to sail it.

aha... memory returns.
are there any measurement rules to be obeyed when attatching jib cleats on the hulls. if not, where is the reccommended positioning?

Congratulations! <img src="http://www.catsailor.com/forums/images/graemlins/cool.gif" alt="" />

On the beach mast up is OK. If you have a cover then after the sails dry roll them up, you can simply throw the cover over everything, then secure the mast and you are done. <img src="http://www.catsailor.com/forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif" alt="" />

As for the replacement parts, I learned the hard way $$ only by direct from AHPC. <img src="http://www.catsailor.com/forums/images/graemlins/wink.gif" alt="" />

And make sure you tighten down the mast rotation control before you leave it. When the wind blows, the mast will flop around and can do some damage if you don't secure it. <img src="http://www.catsailor.com/forums/images/graemlins/blush.gif" alt="" />

Equally important - attach the boat securely to the ground. Various suggestions have been made here before. On sand you can easily bury a piece of wood with a line on it. On grass you can use an earth anchor, something like this - http://www.acehardware.com/sm-anchor-eye--pi-1275470.html

I'm not the only one here who has had a boat go over with the mast up in a storm. <img src="http://www.catsailor.com/forums/images/graemlins/blush.gif" alt="" />

ok, thanks guys. I'll talk with our local club about their storage aggancements, we'll be out in a yard, but not sure about their tying down provisions.

Timbo,

Do you always tighten the mast rotation?
I also did, but a day I came at the beach and the mast was quite shaking because of the fact the rotation was on. Now I always release it and the mast just parrallels with the wind...

I guess both have their downsides...

Millex,

Welcome and enjoy sailing! I would ask APHC directly where to put the blocks or check the year of building and ask some of the Taipan sailors on the forum.
The placement is very important so inform enough.

Regards,
Gill

Hi Millex

I would send my tramp to Goodalls in Bendigo and get them to arrange the jib positioning on the tramp for you, not on the hulls.

Power Drive Marine in Yarra Street, Geelong stock a lot of gear, I've bought quite a lot of gear from them.

I live an hour west of Geelong on the Hamilton Highway.

Regards

Are you rigging the boat for F16 sailing or Taipan sloop rigging? If you are going F16, you dont need blocks on the trampoline or the hulls for the jib. Just a track for the selftacker and some blocks on the spi pole. Cleats can go on the beam, hulls or elsewhere.

ok, but the whole thing sounds complicated. can someone explain exactly what needs doing if I was to say that it is being rigged for taipan sloop, with real F16 mods being carried out later. pics would be helpful...
thanks,
Alex

Can you make it to the Portland regatta this weekend.? if only to look at some of the other F16's.?

sorry, don't get back from europe until next monday. skipper is in sydney however, and if anyone has an f16 there, then i'll get him on the case.

If money is tight, I think you need to make a call now on whether you want to go F16 or Taipan. Otherwise you'll be spending a lot of money buying 2 of a lot of items. If it was me right now already owning that boat, I'd rig it as a Taipan. There is a lot of rigging info here (http://www.taipan.asn.au/). When the money becomes available buy a kite etc for it. Then in a couple of years time if you find you are sailing more often as an F16 than a Taipan you can invest in a self tacker track etc.

thanks for all the suggestions,guys.
still need to talk to the skipper, but I believe that we are now definitely rigging it 4.9 sloop. full F16 rig can wait until we have:
a) got better at sailing it
b) more money
c) more experience with other boats.

just to clarify, from pictures that I have seen, and from Matt's post, am I to assume that in order to acheive sloop rigging we do not have to drill holes in the hull?
how the jib blocks attatch, and where, is the part I'm still trying to figure out...

The story I've heard is that the mast can rotate (oscillate) with the wind with such frequency that the boat literally shakes....causing the ground anchors to uplift and creating a tragic (land) capsize.

P.S. I set my mast rotation fixed at 0 degrees.

No do not drill holes! The blocks attach to the tramp. Again cut the chase, save your money and the resale value of the 4.9 and call AHPC for the jib kit. <img src="http://www.catsailor.com/forums/images/graemlins/wink.gif" alt="" />

Gilo, yes, I always tighten mine down, but I also tie my trap wires off to two trees, one on each side of the boat, which probably keeps the mast from vibrating much in any wind up to 30+ knots. The trees help diminsh the wind on the mast as well.

But out in the open, I would try to put the boat into the wind first, then tie it down, then secure the mast rotator to keep it from flopping around.