Does anyone know if Hans Klock rigged his spin at the first GC? And, since I'm likely to be sailing against F18s and perhaps a few I-20s at Carlisle, what's the best strategy for competing against sloops?

He did rig it but seldomly pulled it. His own comment at the time was that he saw a few more experienced sailor crash under spinnaker and decided not to take the risk considering his own skills at the time. A good decision, no doubt about it, it won him the title.

In the distance race later in the week he pulled it and raced himself to the top 5 in a 75 boat fleet (Marcus being ahead of him in that race at 4th spot on corrected time)

Tips for racing against F18's and I-20's. Really plan ahead when rounding C-mark. Make sure you have a clean entry and exist at the mark. Slow down if you have to in order to cut behind a fantatical (abusive) F18 crews. Enter wide and come out tight. When done right you'll pass them again on the exit. Really try to not get covered by the sloops. They'll run you off the mark and often barge at you; HUGE time waster as you in 1-up mode can not take any risks and have to steer well clear to avoid damage So DON'T DO this.

Try to steer deep under spinnaker keeping the luff hull just out. You can make up very good time on this legs with respect to F18's and I-20's. Keep to clear air upwind and go through the middle unless one side is really obviously favoured. Don't sail away from the race leaders (they'll have figured out where the pressure is on the course). So try to follow their path while keeping clear air all the time. Don't get into any pointing duels, F16's are more of a footer then a pointer.

Wouter

Coach Wouter!

Could you please spare the sarcasms and digs at posts which actually have good contents? It dont contribute to any good and I have about had it with the constant nagging you and a few others bring to the forum. If your goal is to poison the F16 forum on Catsailor, you are doing good work. If you are unable to stay away from Wouter, go somewhere else to try and have a fight with him.

Since we have four new Vipers coming into the States, and since I can always use refreshers and reminders, maybe we can cover some old ground??

Let's say I'm going upwind and about to be passed to windward by an I-20 (NO! An F18 ). When can I luff, how hard, how high and when do I have to stop. And what's the smart thing to do?

Simple: Dont get stuck behind an I20 or F18
What you can do at a busy bottom mark is go around the mark really close and pinch a little right after you passed it.
That way other boats cant sail over the top of you and they will likely just sail below you instead.

I've also found that when 1-up on a F16 (A-cat or moth may well be different) that it pays to go to the least congested mark at the bottom gate. Less boats is more room for you to take down the spi and make a tight turn around the mark. In order to not waste much time on extra distance travelled make sure you have planned your approach well ahead and adjusted your sailed track accordingly.

Indeed this mark may well be less favoured but it is the better choice if the favoured mark is approached by you and 5 ot more other boats in a close procession.

If you are to late to make this decision then you'll just have to go for it and round together with the other boats. This will be hard but sometimes you can "slow down to win". This is can be a risky manouvre but does work well when the mark is heavily congested. Sail deep, till some 50-30 mtr above a beam reach to the mark, drop de kite earlier and then beam reach to the mark and round it really tight. Sometimes you can just pinch above the boats in front of you and you can always claim luffing rights to boats overtaking you. By sailing deep and a little away from the mark (A LITTLE) you have won yourself a free space of water to drop the kite with no hassle; as the sloop spi boats will come in hot to the mark and stay above you.

When rounding the A-mark (or offset mark); Dive deep and claim free water below you. Remain on the same tack if you effectively defend your free leeward water gybe immediately at the mark when you can't. Sloop 2-up spi boats will luff you up under spi when they can get behind you, bringing you in heaps of trouble. As you typically run deep you also don't want the sloops with spi to run over you and take you air. So defending you leeward water and also clean air but choosing the right manouvre/course is very important at after rounding the top mark. Remember the 1-up F16 strong point is running deep in clean air and free leewater with a hull just lifted under spinnnaker. You don't even have to trapeze, I mostly don't (but I'm 90 kg). Set yourself off right at the offset mark and you can make really good gains under spi.

And again race your own race upwind where you only try to minimize any hits. If you can stay with the pack then you are doing well enough. Make your gains on the spi rides !

Racing a F16 1-up in a larger fleet is a challenging activity, and does indeed seperate the men from the boys. When done right it is a major thrill and achievement.

Best of luck

Wouter

Son't fight them, keep sailing your own race with YOUR optimal pointing angle and YOUR optimal speed. When don right a sloop 2-up I-20 or F18 will not pass you without some serious effort. Often you slow down by actively fighting them and allow them to pass sooner that way. I found that if you can stay ahead for a short while by sailing your own race that they tack away themselves. A good I-20/F18 racing crew knows that any elongated fight to pass any boat in front is a performance killer. In the F16 case they are not racing you so they tend to try to get away from you unless they are forced to sail the same course.

Don't be scared when they point a little higher, when they come close to you, the dirty air of your sails will reduce they pointing angle and often force them to sail towards your boat. Then you just keep sailing your own race and halve the time they wash out the back. Shout back abuse if they get frustrated. remember they are the dumb fucks to try to overtake a uni-rig so close while sailing a sloop rig.

If they indeed (eventually) pass you tack away behind them towards clean air unless you are close to the mark or this leg is REALLY favoured.

Get this down properly will be enough work for you. Hell, I still get angry with myself for for getting these simple rules sometimes.

Wouter

Pete, IMO, sailing single handed with a kite in a mixed fleet needs planning....

Have a plan for each mark and stick to it!

Approaching the windward make is no different from in any other class, you need to be in clean air and you need to keep people away from above you. AS you are sailing single handed, you should be pointing higher and so most will not try to drive over you close by.

Going from the windward mark to the spacer can be a challenge if it's real windy and so I'd suggest taking the traveller out with you on the last tack so you can let some out as you round.

IF you are near the front of the fleet, a gybe set can be good on the first round as you get onto port early and should have a measure of clear air (but depends on the fleet size). IMO, there are two conflicting aims at the point the kite goes up:

1, Get the kite up PDQ as the boat goes faster with it up
2, Getting onto PORT with clear air at some point.

It can ge good to carry on and get the kite up and drive off with speed on stbd as it FEELS good, but you are delaying the chance to get onto port. If there are no other reasons, I'll usually aim to get the kite up and then look for a chance to gybe. YOU don't want boats gybing before you as you then WILL be covered by them. IF its really windy, a gybe set can be a good move as it saves a gybe in the big stuff with the kite up (I usually fall in when gybing).



Leeward marks can be difficult as you (being single handed) have a lot more to do... Aim for the mark that looks like it will be least busy when you get there, but you DO need to think about which side of the course you want. It can be worth dropping a little early to allow you to have more chance to pick a space more easily. Remember, as you are single handed, you will point higher, most decent sailors know this and will tend to try and avoid getting right on your aft quarter as they will just have to tack away.

You are a real ambassador for the F16 class

Well, if I had a coin for everytime I had a F18 crew busting my balls for no real reason other then their own mistakes then I'll buy a new Aussie Blade F16 today.

In fact, over the years we (I) have met some F18 crews looking to switch over to another class like the F16's as they have come to dislike "the professionalism" of the F18 class, meaning frivolous protests, Aussie Football style manouvres on the starting line and while rounding marks and European football fan style communication skills. I think we covered one of such examples quite recently on this forum where a F18 cew sails straight into the back of a singlehanded F16, causing damage, shouting abuse and forcing the F16 to capsize on top of a previously overturned boat.

One of the best examples I have in my memory is about a F18 crew trying to overtake me to windward right after the start but only some 5 meters off to my side and rear. Due to the bad air they were eating from my sails they were "magically pulled" to the side of my boat. The adressed me as "That ****ing boat" and implored me to stop pointing so high so they could overtake me. They really couldn't figure out why I (and indeed the rest of the fleet) was pointing higher then they were (bad air) and they really felt that it was their right to demand that I bear away so they could overtake me. Because they were "really f#cking racing while I ... " Well I think you get the picture.

My advice for any such situation if these crews give you heat is to let there be no doubt and give them heaps of abuse back. Apparently that is the way the world works at this time. This crew eventually washed out through the back and that was all I saw of them.

Not my preferred solution but sometimes you have to go with the local "customs".

It is one of the reasons I don't like doing regatta's in NL anymore.

Wouter

I had a top F18 crew nearly run me down under spinnaker. They have never acknowledged the incident to this day. An apology would be out of the question.

the more I think about it and the more I do race, I don't want to race

Sailing in general.

Hi Wouter and Pete, it's not just the F18 crews. There are sailors that yell and those that don't in every class. People handle stress differently and yes, some are a**holes. Try to stay away from them on the course. Good incentive to get out front and don't let it spoil your racing. We really like racing against the F-18 guys/gals. Cheers! - G

Wouter, you really have some serious issues to deal with!

I have done two complete seasons in NED, I have never once seen you on a race course (although I am told you were at the REM race this year). So I must assume your tactical pointers are taken from events that I haven't been to. They must be the big serious events to warrant such pressure situations.... Let me know some details of these events so I can book them into the team calendar for next year. Hopefully we can represent the F18 class in a better way than you have experienced so far.

I do a lot of F18 racing and have never once had experiences such as you describe, so possibly it could be to do with the way you are interacting with those around you... Much the same as you seem to get on peoples nerves here

Happy sailing.

Here's a quick reply Macca !





I have been sailing since I was 12 years old (mono's, cats, landyachts) and I'm 36 now. You have been in Europe what ? Only the last two years ?




For example a 80-110 boat annual NAM/REM-race designated as a official F18 class (and others) regatta is sufficiently important to attract all kinds of sailors.

You and I were there as well, right ?




Were did I say this is something that can be attributed to the F18 class ? I merely mentioned that some crews can get too fanatical and loose all sense of proportion and become abusive. Often these selfglorifying crews are attracted to the class with the most status and right now that is the F18's. So while they may often be sailing F18 designs, it is not a problem that can be attributed to the F18 class organisation. And indeed I never did so.




There have been several times already this year and even last year that we were so close to eachother that I could touch your shoulder. There is nothing wrong with my eyes !

I did meet John Casey and several others on the beach over a beer and we had a good time, nice fellows. But for some reason I never saw the point in tapping you on the head and say hi. You are not the most fun guy to be around, Macca. Come to think of it you are actually one of those F18 crews that seek recreational sailors and their classes out and try to do an (abusive) dance on their heads and forums for fun.

Now I have to interact with you on these forums as you are one of the largest sources of BS when it comes to F16's and the F16 class. But other then that I can't care less whether you drop off your pushbike tomorrow or not.

Have a nice day now !

Wouter

Actually, I only pick on you

You piss all over our class.

Amen! That is the thruth of it.
The sad part is when people bring their grievances back to the beach and even on to a public forum.