Rich, that's just plain too pretty. What races do you plan on taking it to? We can send a note to the Portsmouth Committee asking for a number for your boat, and then talk to your regatta organizer to see what they will need.

You might get stuck with the Mystere number early on, as it is the most-raced boat of this size. Are you planning to add a spin or hooter? How big is the jib?

Again - really pretty boat. Nice job bringing it back to life.

Hey John,

Thanks, but I must say that is what she looked like when I picked her up. Since then I"ve done a small amount of repair...mainly from the neglect of sitting for a while. Sanded her good and put 3 coats of varnish on so she's shin'n now. Added a spinnaker pole to position the jib better(26 sq ft), and for the eventual addition of more sail.

I'm really not concerned with the actual number at this point, just a good starting point and the proper procedure to get there so that we can all play!!!

As for as races....I'm looking at the Labor Day weekend (Version 2.?) event in Norfolk, VA w/Hobie Fleet 32 and their Neptune Festival event too. Maybe a Fall race in your area too. Brian Lambert owes me a night out there I think!!! The Tradewinds in KL, and maybe the Miami-KL. (Any reason to go warm in the winter!!!)

Other than that I'm gonna try and hit whatever is local that I can get the P-number to wherever it should be, and of course so that I can get the most needed experience.

Sounds like you've got a solid plan for the season. Remember, though, we're talking about two different things - getting your boat a handicap number to race in the open fleet, or meeting up at a Formula 14 regatta and racing straight up. I went back and re-read this thread, and it seemed like the majority of people that spoke up were not in favor of a single Formula 14 number - just the principle of first-to-finish within the 14s and racing with pre-existing numbers in open fleets. I was expecting that someone would eventually show up with something that was built to fit the box, but doesn't have established numbers. If you're going main and jib, and I were in charge of scoring a regatta you were in, I'd probably look at something like the Nacra 4.5 sloop numbers (79.4 base number) to start.

Good luck - send more pics.

Yeah, I know that there are two differnt things here. My original plan was like many others here, but when this came along for the price....well, I was lucky. Being that this boat is a one-off I'm looking for the input like you've provided, and hope to gain experience as I move from ground crew to sailor...

Anyway, thanks for the recomendation, and I guess I'll contact the powers that be for a number.....

So then the question is.....

Use a sail number, or a boat name or what for an identifier. I definately don't want to screw this up and get a "F-14" number for all. Less confusion is better!!!

More pics as soon as I can.

Rich

If it came to you without any name or designations, name it yourself - I see it has modern dagger boards... maybe call her the Dagger 14? Give it a name - your sail number could change and wouldn't be as descriptive.

The hulls have a nice shape - can you find out who built it?

Well, it came with the Solcat 18 sails, and we know it's not that. The Michigan title only has "Assembled" as the make, and even I can be a bit more creative than that. So I guess I'll name it myself, but must consult with a dear friend for permision for my first choice.

As for as who built it, I've got no clue unless someone on here might have heard of it before. It was supposed to have been built in the Pontiac, Michigan area. The guy I bought it from picked it up for $100.00 at a charity auction there. The owner previous to him donated it, but the charity would not give me any of the donors info, so a dead end there.

I do like the hulls, and the real reason I bid on it,(ebay), was that it's a lot like a Nacra 6.0 but not a direct scale transfer. If I didn't know better I'd swear it was built after reading some of the posts on here. She appears to be well-built strengh wise, a lot like a bigger vessel than the smaller ones I'm familiar with. Bulkheads, stringers, and frames, it is stiff!

Here's another view

You could use the Texel calculator to get a Texel number, pick a comparable U.S. listed boat from the Texel list and use the U.S. dPn of that boat.

If you are going to race, you should try to get a fair dPn for the boat.
While you may not care how you finish, it would be unfair to show up with a one-off boat with an incorrectly high dPn and beat other sailors who do care how they finish.
I have seen alot of bad feelings when that happens.

Hey Sam,

Thanks for that suggestion! I do want a fair number for the boat, but feel that since my helm time is best measured in hours rather than years, I personally have a steep learning curve ahead of me. That simply means to me that I'm personally prepared to not perform up to that number. I'm fine with that, and knowing that as I improve the boat's number should improve accordingly. I think one of my main reasons for posting here in this thread was to,

A) See if anyone else had a one-off and if so were we using similar enough platforms to have the same number.

B) If no one else currently has a P-number for a F-14 one-off, get input from the others involved in F-14 fleet as my experience here is limited.

Rich

Hey Sam -

Agree - that's why I'd go with the Nacra 4.5 numbers - the 4.5 has more sail and is a longer boat, which puts Rich slightly on the more difficult side of the rating. Boat weight sounds about right. Just a jumping off point for him to get onto the course. Hopefully, his race organizers are sending their data to Darline.

John:

Are you talking about Carl Bohannon? He is in my fleet and races in the Wed night on Clear Lake. I thought he broke his boat? Beam? So I have a question. When racing Formula 14 on the 4.3 how do I rig it? Main and spinnaker, main and jib or all the sails?

Doug Snell

Hey Doug -

Necropost! That thread was 8 months in the grave! Lol

The 4.3 is F14 compliant in it's factory-supplied configuration - all the sails.

PM me your address and I'll send you the class sticker that'd I'd bought for a new mainsail I never got.