As a 5.7 sailor it is fantastic to hear that these great boats are still being sailed all over the world. Jimi get yourself a kite from Landy or Charlie Ogletree, both have cut very fast sails for our 5.7.

Recently we sailed our 5.7 in an long distance race against tornado's, 4.9s and F18 and totally destroyed them all downwind, but not quite so much upwind. Our boat cruises at 20.5 knots with kite and does about 12-13 knots upwind, probably the most unbelievable thing we have recorded is a speed of 23 knots in a lot less than 10 knots of breeze. This is not bad considering, as the dutch boys know, us Australian 5.7 sailors are a bunch of clowns. With someone good on it a 5.7 can make the impossible possible. However, it really gets my rocks off to know that a bunch of hicks who don't know what their doing can do things that most millionaire's yachts can't.

If the Supertaipan works it will blow tornado's, m20's and anything else out of the water, looks to me like it could well be the future, cheap and very fast. Hopefully the dutch boys can make it downunder next time as we have a few suprises here for them.

Paul Henderson
Bockscar Aus 187

[quote]I always hate it when the spi-sheet tangles with the downhaul lines..
quote]

Hey Macca,

Have you thought about running the down haul like the Capricorn.

Also are you going to the Flying Mile Regatta on the 26th June. I may see if INOX or Dave plan to go up.

How is the Capricorn rigged? The lines lead from the mast base and below the tramp to the hull?

Regarding the lengt of spi lines. We have the minimum lengt for sheeting from the transom (when it blows). But with the kite snuffed, the line still have an awkward ability to either drag in the water or tangle with spi-halyard/douse lines or downhaul lines. We have looked at the bungee systems used on some F-18's, but are not sure if we like them.

We are going to be at the flying mile for sure, should be awesome if it's about 15kts. I need to get the skiff boys there too.

The trick with the kite sheet is to tuck some of it under the hiking strap before the start and when you get a chance on the next uphill, not perfect but it does the job.

With regard to the spinnaker sheet arrangement, I have a block at the back of the trampoline that the spin sheet runs through. This helps take up the extra slack and puts the sheet within reach of the skipper so he can start a little presheeting as the crew is hoisting the kite (at least enough to hand the sheet to the crew just after the hoist). This block is attached by a 1/8" bunji that goes through a grommet at the rear of the trampoline and forward (under the trampoline) to the front x-bar. The bunji allows the block to move as additional spin sheet is needed or jammed on the lazy side.

Jake: Are you happy with this system. You dont feel that it clutters the trampoline or tightens the sheet to much when snuffing or flying the spi?

Tucking the sheet under a hiking strap is one more thing to do. Ok in light winds when we are sitting in, but hard to do while out on the trapeze.

I'm quite pleased with the system I have. In fact, I used to have the sheet length set so that there was only about 2 or 3' of slack so that even if all the slack was dangling in front of the main beam, it would barely be above the water. I had some crew complaints that they didn't like the way that it felt when sheeting from the trapeze when the bunji was tugging a little on the lazy sheet. Personally I didn't mind it and when the crew needs the extra sheet while on the wire, it's windy enough that the little bit of tension provided by the bunji on the lazy sheet doesn't affect the spinnaker. However, I rescended and just put a longer sheet on that has about 5 or 6' of slack in it. It's capable of dragging in the water coming out of the hoop but with the block at the back, you just give it a quick pull from either end and the slack ends up back on the trampoline. I'll see if I can get a picture tonight.

Looking at this picture, I think the carbon fiber of the mast may receive some substantial abrasion from the rigging here as the system rotates. You may want to adhere a thin stainless plate underneath these rigging eyes to protect that beautiful carbon fiber finish!

Yep, I'm with you here, ofcourse the F16 tramp is not really the size of a Tornado one so on my boat proper "line-design and layout" is a must.

I'm slowly solving the spi sheet issue. Right now I have no more dragging lines; Now I'm working on having it lay flat and tensioned on the trampoline.

To give you an idea. I have trapeze line coming out the end of my beam and I run the sheet to the inside of them. Together with the snuffer ring and ratchetblocks this keeps the line on board. Then I have a bungee cord parallell to my rear beam at the very rear of my trampoline. I run a ring along it and I run my spi sheet through the ring. I want to do some more testing but it looks promising. Thing is that the ring can move side to side over the full length of the trampoline at the rear. This makes for a arc where not much line is taken out but the holding end of the sheet is moved considerable (about 2 to 3 mtr). This allows you to run with less slack in the line. Also the pull on it hardly changes because of it. If still more sheet is needed than the bungee will flex and give a few ft extra line.

More later I hope

Wouter

Wouter- pic needed of the ring business. Thanks

You may have to wait about 2 weeks for that. It is unlikely I'll be on my boat before then. Keep an eye on the F16 forum and somewhere in the not too far future you'll see a post with pics and describtions come by.

Wouter

I have the same spin sheet system as Jake and it works well on a Hobie Tiger. When it is really blowing the sheet is only just long enough and the bungee really gets stretched out, but it is just a case of getting used to less slack on the lazy sheet.

One problem with having the sheet this short - you can't rig a doubler system for distance racing. I just bought a separate (longer) sheet to handle this. A little more clutter on deck is tolerable on a 100 mile spinnaker run.

Chris.

Doubler!? On the spin sheet!? Hmmmfff.

When you don't have a gorilla as crew it helps to keep them smiling if you can reduce the load on the spin sheet. I have Harken ratchematic blocks on the hull and at the front cross bar to get some relief when just holding the line. When the wind is up or the distance is great I add a couple of pulleys on pigtails to the clew of the chute and thread the spin sheet through them with the end of the sheet tied of in a figure of 8. When you want to use the doubler you just grab the knot and drag it back to a hook at the side shroud - just remember to release it when you gybe!

My better half insists on it if I expect her to run the chute for anything other than round the cans.

Chris.

You need a tougher crew, even if it is the wife!

You need to make sure you are getting good turn on each block (the radius the rope is turned by the block) Also have you considered a pair of Harken Carbo Ractchamatic's ? They are Lurvly, just trying to justify a second set on the 17 !

If you still have problems, instead of making it 2:1, add another ratchet to the system.

Does all that doubling still meet class requirements?

If so I'd like to figure something out for doubling the traveler, as those heavy air offshore reaches really puts a hurtin' on the ole forearm..

I already have two sets of Harken carbo ratchematics, One at the side of the hull close to the shroud, and another set on the front cross bar on either side of the boat in line with the hiking straps. This gives a double ratchet on the spin sheet with really good wrap on each block. While this reduces the static load on the sheet it doesn't make any difference to the load when sheeting in - which is where the doubler comes into play.

Chris.

Agreed, That's a lot of sheet to manage on each gybe - does it not wash out everywhere when it's windy ?

The doubler only adds around 4 - 5 ft of spinnaker sheet at most (whatever the measurement is from your block at the spin clew to the first turning block on the hull). It is deployed by the crew sheeting the spin and reaching up to the knot which is trapped at the doubler pulley. The skipper then steers down briefly to ease pressure so the crew can drag this knot back to the hook (which I have at the bottom of the side shroud).

You can add a pigtail to the clew of the spin and attach the blocks to it. This shortens the amount of extra spin sheet you need (as long as you don't end up block to block).

A few caveats:

• This system is only suitable for distance racing with long downwind legs - not for round the cans
• In really light air you don't want those blocks dangling off the clew of the spin - so rig according to the conditions for that day
• It will mean extra spin sheet on the tramp when not flying the chute - so wrap it round the hiking strap to stop it going for a swim.

Chris.