do any of the taipan sailors out there know how the boat performs compared to other boats?
specifically, if you had a 1 on 1 race, with equal ability crew and skipper in each boat, how would the taipan fare against :
a)other F16's
b)smaller Cats
c)larger cats (f18)
d) mono hulls (29er, skiffs etc)

Without the spinnaker you will be slower overall than fully optimized F16's and the F18's. In a straight line upwind drag race you may do better without the extra windage but off the wind you will suffer greatly.
You will be faster than most smaller cats but there are some "sleeper" F14's out there.
The skiffs will give you problems, until they capsize that is. Some dinghies will kick your butt in winds under 1 kt.

I suggest you troll through the VYC yardstick..
will give you comparative ratings for Vic for may types of boats..

Personal experience sailing Taipan 4.9 w/spin:
a) similar
b) much faster
c) similar, maybe slightly slower than F18 well-sailed
d) much faster than 29ers, somewhat faster than I14s, on par with 49ers, but depends on conditions--heavier air and smooth water favors 49er; lighter wind (ie <18 knots) favors F16

lol. somehow, I don't think I'd bother if it's that flat...
so no problems with challenging some 29er sailor mates to a simple up/down race? (after some practice on my side, of course)

Even without a spinnaker, the Taipan is so much quicker than the 29er that it won't even be fun, especially if you know how to "wild thing" downwind, which the Taipan can do very well, especially sloop rigged. When I've raced in the same starting group, I only saw them during the starting sequence ...

Pretty accurate

I have seen a Historical 18 near on lap a fleet of cats including Tornadoes and A's in these conditions. Even a modern 18 would have been back in the pack of cats..... Truly scary. The Histerical flew MASIVE sail area on the downwind and was not undercanvased on the upwind either. That combined with the weight of the boat (Steel Keel) kept it pushing through the large glass outs.

True the big 18teens were fantastic boats.
We had 29 foot wings .. My main mast was 39 ft. with a big kite of 2900 Sq ft. Cant remember the working sail area.. Hull weighed 100 lbs clean..

I recall monkey sailing around Lake Geneva with his big rig up with kite .. alone..
Then the scary boats in a drifter 0-5 kts are the 12s!!

I miss-read.. Think now your meaning the traditional "heavy weight 18s like mele bilo, westerly, britiania etc. Great fun to watch or sail..

And scary boats to sail in a breeze. Once we showed up at the Squaddy with our modern 18, only for racing to be canceled due to 35 knot winds. The Histericals went out and we jumped on one. 2 sail reached across the harbour and back, landing on the beach at the Zoo and having to be towed home.

Had to be carefull not to heel the boat too much as the long boom quickly drags in the water resulting in swims.

It also worried me how you had to untie the leeward side stay so the boom will go out futher, only to have tie it and untie the other quickly in the gybes <img src="http://www.catsailor.com/forums/images/graemlins/shocked.gif" alt="" />

hey ming ur a tool coarse hayley would beat u

Protest...
irrellevant posting
somebody arrest this character!

I have owned and raced a 29er and there is no comparison. The PM rating for the 29er is 84.5 and my Blade rates 65.2. My racing results in open fleet racing proved the rating is accurate for the 29er.

Do the math... There is no point of sail or condition where the 29er will keep up with a F16.

but ignoring all that, Mccann, and completely off topic:
u realise that judging by one of the earlier threads on the forum (age nd gender of owners) we might actually be some of the youngest Taipan/F16 owners in the world...
Woot... we made history!!!

Steady on there son, you are definately not the youngest taipan sailors around I can assure you. F16 however, could be, I don't really know.

The difference between now and then, as per your other thread, is that boats, in particular timber boats are at the moment cheaper than they were a couple or more years ago, I won't presume to know how much you paid for yours, but there are boats available now for between $4-6000, the same boats a few years ago $6-9000, younger people sometimes, just don't have the cash.

has anyone raced against foiling mono's in a taipan?
a moth, for instance...

Perhaps best asked here <img src="http://www.catsailor.com/forums/images/graemlins/blush.gif" alt="" />

Foiling is a revolution in sailing

righto, matt.
you wouldn't happen to know any of these younger taipan sailors, would you?

No I think I would be classed as half way up the hill, as opposed to being over it.

I will be 33 this month, I'm married and have two kids. But as far as Taipan sailors go I would say a greater percentage of sailors are over 40. But stated earlier there would be several younger (>13) with full time crew positions.

Regards

I better chime in quickly--I'm in my 30s...for two more weeks.