The reason why the Tornado class wanted to move to the carbon mast was because some teams were spending big $$$$ developing a better alloy stick. Remember, the T was a multi manufacture OD class meaning you could build any part of the T yourself. The alloy stick did not include tollerances for bend characteristics. The carbon mast was to be a very stricted OD mast which not only had to meet certain dimentions, but also bend charateristics. It was to be built only by Marstrom for the first 4 years until Marstom recouped it's investment in development, before being opened up to other manufactures.

The difference with the Viper is all mast come from the same supplier and you can not privatly develop one. If they choose a carbon mast, they will still need to be strict OD, far from what the F16 class is or ever will be.

This is why we need to be pushing for "sailing olympics". We have a Tornado/F18 sailor telling us what F16 can or should be.

If we had our own games, the boat would matter far less than the skill level.

Trying to promote "THE" olympic cat is divisive.

Hey Steve, why not include "F16" or "Taipan 4.9" in your signature now
And how about a write-up on your experiences on the Taipan4.9 (or is it a fully equipped F16 by now)?

We have beaten the alu mast extrusion discussion to death repeatedly earlier. Short summary, masts from even the same die will be different as the die is worn over time. Uniform bending characteristics comes, as you specify, from a tightly controlled OD mast design.

The olympic boat better be thightly, and I mean really thight, Marstrøm thight, one design. This is a big problem with manual labour! Even Laser sails are different as they are built with a manual process.


I see no big risks here

The Taipan is a great boat however I am missing the raw power of the T or F18.

Obvious differences Cat rigged are

- A little more flighty
- Cat rigged, harder to keep in the groove. Hit a wave bad and you can stop the boat.
- Can stop the boat really quick in a tack as you have less weight to keep the momentum up. Hit a wave the wrong way or not turn smooth enough, you can park it. The F18 and T you can really smash through a tack if needed.
- Heavy air gybing, don’t even try it if you don’t have the pace up (learnt this on Phil’s Blade ). Prepare well for the gybe and get your speed up or you are swimming. Once again the T and F18 don’t bite anywhere near as hard. If you have to crash gybe or slow gybe, then it is not much of issue.

I am also teaching the wife how to sail sloop rigged but have not taken her out over 7 knots so far. Days have either been light or heavy lately. If the wind blows, the wife and jib both stay on shore.

Looking forward to putting a spinnaker on it, however spare $$$$ are going elsewhere at the moment. When I do, hopefully some time next season, it will be sailed uni. A new main will come first though. The Taipan Cat rigged fleet in Victoria, Australia is very hot so I am looking and spending a fair bit of time sailing as such.

BTW, the wife won't let me call it Taipan ALIVE.......



Agreed, however what the top Tornado sailors were doing went well beyond looking for a stick with better quality / bend characteristics……. They were building their own (not available to the public) masts that were superior. This is why the Carbon stick had to come in for the Games. Many sailors without Olympic aspirations were very against the move as the ‘special’ alloy sticks would not have made much of a difference to their results; however the carbon stick will make a difference to their pockets……. But the class had to move to the carbon stick for the sake of the class’s reputation in the Games and the rest is history.

Stephen,

You'll notice the difference in sailing the Taipan in a blow when she is fitted with a spinnaker. It may still bite but not nearly as much and hard as without.

Wouter

That has been my experience even in the F18 and Tornado. The kite actually helps settle the boat down, down wind when it is blowing the numbers of your sail. Helps lift the bow, helps maintaing speed through a gybe and means you can get out on the wire and trap behind the rear beam shifting weight further aft.

What I find hardest about downwind sailing in strong winds is the transitions. Once setteled and possibly with the mainsail stalled out, it is fine. But getting there can be a pain.

Just dont get caught in breaking 5 meter waves..