I am seriously considering upgrading from H16 to f16 probably Viper I weigh 75kg will I be able to right it on my own without a bag? Does the 30kg less boat make a big differnce or is it also the extra leverage from standing on the board?

What is the proceedure if you go over with the kite up.. is the kite easy to get back in the chute if capsized?

Thanks in advance

Siam:

Your most likely capsize will be with the chute up. It's no problem. After uncleating the halyard, the spin retrieval line is right in front of you as you stand on the hull facing the underside of the tramp. Only problem could be if the sheet gets fouled or spin wraps the hull while shrimping; both seldom happen.

From my experience, what matters most is getting the bows into the wind and that there is enough wind to fill the main from the underside. On the occasion that I'm lazy, in a hurry, or managed to capsize when there is little wind; I'll use the board to right her. Others gasp at this but I have had no issues when standing on the boards. It usually is only for 2-3 seconds. I do not need to bounce on the board. I'm 85kg. I'll defer to the Viper sailors but my bet is that it is only a slight difference because most of the additional weight is in the hulls and your standing on one of them already.

A couple of times, the main sheet has gotten hooked on a batten. When this happened water partially filled the sail and the boat would not right.

Be sure to have a clear picture in your mind of all the "housekeeping" that needs to be done before attempting to right. With enough practice , it's a piece of cake.

One thing we have noticed in Singapore with the Viper is that it can turtle quite easily and can be really hard to re-right. It is very surprising how quick it happens, and how hard to recover in this situation.

We have speculated about why, but could be the rather large volume hulls in the shorter length. But as I said, speculating. Comparative to a Taipan, the Taipan is dead easy to get back up and going.

Speak to Scott McCook at pro-sail in Singapore more about this. He has the most experience with Vipers with 10 in Singapore.

Yes the Taipan is still the benchmark.;-)

BTW - has anyone seen the build quality of the hulls being produced out of Singapore/Indonesia? Just curious, thanks…;-)

I am 160-165ish (sorry, too lazy to translate) and I could solo right the Blade with some breeze very easily - the most important aspect is bows to the wind (as Kris said). I have; however, turned over in lighter winds and had to use a righting bag or outside assistance.

Regarding the Viper turtling easy.... That sounds a little suspect, assuming the mast is watertight and you got off the mast pretty quickly (on a slow roll, I'll step on the mast - then on the lower hull)....

I'd love to hear DucatiScott chime in. Otherwise, I'll let you know on March 2 after I turn my Viper over for the first time

I can't say that I find my own F16 (A Taipan) to turtle easily. I have yet to do it and I've gone over quite a few times. My boat weights all up 121 kg as it is a homebuild and we didn't take much risk in the way of construction; quite close to the Viper I'd say.

I too find this claim regarding the Viper suspect. I too would check the mast for water tightness or something like that. Only a very small amount of water running in the mast would do the trick. I also serious dislike the t-terminal ends as the little holes do let water water in the mast and this is enough for trouble despite a sealant block above the hounds. The F16 mast should be completely water tight all the way up from the spreader arms. A partial sealing (above the hounds) is not enough in my experience and this is the reason why I specifically didn't use any T-terminals on my mast.

Regards,

Wouter

Equals 72.5 to 74.9 kg

I'm 86 kg myself right now and only have to put in an effort during righting when I go over in very light winds and flat seas.

Wouter

We have a regular F16 wingmast with the T-terminals.
We put some silicone in at the start of every season and haven't had any issues yet.

If you forget it however then you will have difficulties righting it alone.

Gill