There recently has been a temporary/trial change to the FXone class rules that allow the sloop rig two up FXones to race directly with the uni rig version. Has the F17 class any plans like this? I think its a good idea myself, and lends flexability to the platform. Adding weight slows you down, but having four hands means alot too.

Karl,

At this time, no. The F17 is primarily marketed in the USA as a uni-rigged boat. I can't speak for the Euro guys. When you think about our boats, they were designed for solo sailing first. If the F17 was to do this, IMO, the jib would have to be bigger.

Bob

Karl,

We have discussed this in CRAM. We have offered to race the F 17 Sloop straight up just to see what would happen. So far the only Sloop in CRAM has not raced with us yet. I agree with Bob, I don't see how it could possibly be competetive, unless it was really overpowering conditions. If the Sloop ever gets on the start line with the Fleet we will let ya know what happened.

Two people on the boat means more weight. More weight on the hulls just pushes them deeper into the water and slows the boat down. I sailed the F 17 with the big boy shute last season and my added weight only pushed the hulls deeper into the water. The shute was nice but the weight thing didn't make me go faster, it only helped upwind in a blow.

Eric Kennedy
F 17 Fleet Captain

It depends too on where you set the minimum weight. Obviously two, 190# guys aren't going to be competitive with a singlehanded boat, but if you set the minimum weight at 253#'s/115kg like the HCA has, I don't know. I think few teams could work that kind of weight, but youth teams really come to mind, and that's plenty to right it too.

I fully understand that dragging around excess weight isn't the best plan of attack, (gimme a little credit), but the minimum weight for the FXone is 158lbs uni, that extra 95lbs could pay off pretty well when that 3rd hand is needed. Plus you should be able to drive the boat that much harder. May get some of the folks who are leary of switching to a F18 something more manageable too. I've ran the front of an Infusion and it was way more work than running my boat singlehanded.

I need to get on a F17 sometime and try it out. There is a couple locally. How does it handle two people? When the FXone sticks the nose it doesn't slow down much, I've been told the F17 stops hard.

Hey Bob, next time you see Rick Adams ask him about two up on my boat on Lake Superior in probably 25mph winds and 4ft chop

Strategery will be racing in both formats over the next year as I can convince my daughter to get out there with me. As someone who is tipping the upper end of the small chute without the addtional weight of my daugther, I don't expect we'll do well, but you never know.

Bob is probably right about the jib size, but racing 1-up and 2-up competitively against one-another is not as far fetched as it may intuitively.

For a while now the F16's have been doing it quite succesfully. The latter meaning that it is quite hard to predict the outcome of a race when the sailors are of equal skills. It may turn out the Nacra's show a similar phenomenon ?

Just do it and find out !

Wouter

Yeah this phenomenon has been well documented over the years (Taipan 4.9). ;-)