Greetings...

What with all Well, after a bit more hassle than I had planned on and a few delays due to business travel, my Nacra F16 is up and sailing.

I even managed to get a day of sailing in with Eric on Huntington Lake, an outing that turned into a true adventure. Seems like my old, less than trusty tow vehicle blew its head gasket on the way up to the lake.

Oh well, the van I replaced it with is a big step up.

As for Murka (My wife is a native Russian and in Russia, "all cats" are called Murka")...

Initial reactions are the boat has real potential. Sailing up wind with Eric's Taipan, Murka seemed to point as high and at times generated real bursts of speed.

In Eric's words, "Your main looks really full and a bit bigger than mine. You got some real bursts of speed. Once you get it dialed in that you should do well."

My view after just a little time on the water? "It’s the nut loose on the tiller that needs the most adjusting!"
For those interested...I've attached a photo.

Off wind? You ARE kidding? With his kite up, Eric simply flew past me. I've already talked to Skip (Skip Elliott of Elliott Patterson Sails) about getting one.

In the mean time I'll be trying to get in as much sail time as possible. Good sailing to all,

John

A quick follow up...

Of course, other than adding a boom, I've tried to keep things as simple as possible. My take is that for the most part, simpler is better. (Just my opinion)

Here's a photo next to Eric's Taipan just for comparison.

John

John ,

You've done wonders with the NACRA ; looks good ! I can't wait to sail with Doc, Rob ( Taipan F16 ,arrived in Cali as of this weekend ,and the class creating fifth F16 overall on the left coast !!!), and yourself !

Paul Kilkenny

Paul,

Who is the 5th ?

Eric (AKA Doc)
John
Rob (new)
Paul (You)
and ?

Things are scalling up here as well. We currently have another storm so I'm waiting for the weather to clear up to take a interested sailor along. But interest is definately here. Problem is that Hobie and Nacra have discovered us over here as well. For some time we could fly under the radar, but now it is more and more becoming a dash for the critical mass line. Dicounts up to 20 % are offering by the big makes. And offering discount is not common overhere; we are the Dutch afterall. Maybe some people are running scared ? Luckily we have the basic Stealth priced at 10.800 Euro's ! 20 % discount still ain't good enough ! But we have to admit that they are putting up some stiff competition now.

Wouter

Mark with Stealth--haven't heard from him lately but his boat is sitting on Newport Beach.

How could I forget about the first F16 out west. Sorry Mark.


Wouter