Well, I just got home from a great sail on the new Blade, built by Matt McDonald of Vectorworks Marine. The conditions were perfect, 75 degrees, blowing south east at 11, gusting to 18, peak gusts to 21 knots. I called the local airport afterward to get the winds.

Matt and I sailed it together, with me driving most of the time. I weigh 185 and Matt about 160, so a combined wt. of 345, which I thought would be way too heavy for any 16 foot boat. I was wrong. The Blade easily carried us both.

Infact, the first thing I noticed as I approached the boat was how full the hulls are, aft of the center. They carry their volume all the way to the transoms, which are much fuller than the Inter 20's transoms.

Up front, the bows are narrow and tear drop shaped, with the volume at the bottom, skinny on top. See the photos posted by Robi. The hulls are also 3 inces deeper than the Tai Pan 4.9's.

We launced out behind the factory into a river (same as Robi's pictures) for some upwind work first. I thought the boat would be unstable with the two of us on it but we were double trapping and having no trouble with the frequent gusts and shifts along the shore. The rudders were very effective without stalling at all, even though some of my turns were eratic, trying to deal with the wind. It turns very quickly but not so quickly as to throw you off the boat. It steers like a larger cat, easy and predictable. The gusts came quick and some were big but the hull didn't fly up too quickly, it was easy to handle and keep in a straight line, much easier than my F18HT. I found we could press it pretty hard, two of us on the wire, and when the bow went all the way down Matt took one step to the back and it popped right back up, thanks to the rocker and full sections aft. We didn't seem to be sinking the sterns even when we were both well aft on a reach.

When we ran out of river going upwind, we turned down and Matt launched the spinnaker. We left the boards down, eased the traveler a foot and began to play the gusts downwind. With both of us on the tramp, I could fly the hull easily and with a quick bear off, I managed to stuff the lee bow a couple of times. I thought we might swim once when I stuffed them both to the front beam but the rudders kept working, so I pulled while moving back on the tramp and the bows popped right back up, off we went. Nice!

Then Matt got out on the wire with the spinnaker sheet as I moved all the way back on the tramp, still sitting on the hull. He had one foot on each side of me and I tried pretty hard to stuff it again but it wouldn't go, instead we just went faster. I remember telling him the ride was alot like the Inter 20, nice, stable and fast!

We did a couple of gybes then ran out of river, Matt snuffed the chute and we went back upwind, more reaching rather than pointing, to see how fast we could go.

The main sail is easy to depower in the bigger puffs, just honk on the cascade 16-1 downhaul. The sails looked great and the mast (same as the Tai Pan's) was easy to rotate, a very nice wing section. Matt stayed in on the tramp playing with my GPS unit, trying to get a speed reading, while I was single trapped, moving front and back, to see what would happen with the bows. You can really tell when you are too far forward. That lee bow starts to go down and you can feel the boat slow a little, you take a step back, it pops right up and you take off, fast. The rudders were great about not stalling when turning quickly. Matt said he and Gina had it planing at the Tradewinds regatta in January.

Well, my GPS unit shut down with a "low battery" message, we did record a 16 knot speed early in the ride, before we got it out in the middle of the river where the wind was better.

We sailed about an hour and a half, overall I was very impressed with the boat. It seems to be much larger than 16' when you are on it, we never ran into each other crossing the tramp on the tacks or gybes. The real volume is in the aft sections of the hulls so while you are trapped out back there, the view is the same as on an 18 feet long hull. We had it loaded up with our 345lbs, on one hull most of the time, no problem at all. If the bow starts to go under, take a step to the back and away you go.

It's got all the bells and whistles like you would find on any good spinnaker cat. 4-1 jib downhaul, double auto-ratchet spin. blocks, super light carbon boards and blades, self tacking jib, mid pole snuffer, etc.

Thankyou Matt, for a great day on the water, playing with a great new toy! I wish we had another cat out there to compare with, I guess we will have to wait for the Mug race for that.

It's fast, light and sails like it's longer than 16 feet, nice design by Phill Brander and Vectorworks Marine is doing a great job on the build.

Be sure to check out Robi's pictures.

Bumping the report up the board and .... Welcome to the club, Tim.

Many thanks for your report. Now prepare yourself to want one ! (joke)


Wouter

Now we need a boat from V Works for the heavier crews. I'll get in line...

Eric, you will be pleased to know that Matt is already in the process of working up a 20' Blade.

Wouter, You are correct, I want one!

ahhahaha U got bit by the Blade bug. I did not even get a chance to test drive the boat. The boat that I test drove was the one going to my home.



Good stuff!

I really must fly up there and test it out, I know I will be hooked on the Blade hehehe.

Been waiting for you Tim.
Glad it was good.
I get my demo turn next Month on Robi's Blade. He'll probably kick my Butt on the Tiger. I will be recovered from the new house/new boat next year enough to do a Blade for myself. I'm liking the Tiger far better than I thought, but I'm still basically a 170 # soloist with intermittent crew. Hopefully production and delivery on the Blade 16's will have stabilized by then, you of all people know how impatient I get without a decent cat.
Catnip withdrawal????
(Apologies to my H-14)
CARY
Team Seacats