I’ve noticed the nacras and some of the F16s have these wave piercing bows.

http://www.vectorworkssail.com/images/f16_05lg.jpg

They seem like they do ok in small chop, but I have wondered how they would do in the conditions I see regularly up here of 3-5 ft steep waves.

Matt

There are many misconceptions about the new hullshapes. One of them is that they have less volume in the bows. This however can not be determined from the shape (raked back) of the bow itself. A designer can put in more volume or less volume, what ever he feels is best. The rest is just an optical illusion. Mostly because alot of the volume is located at the keel line instead of near the decks as in the older hulls. So the bows look thinner and less bouyant while it may very be the case that the bouyant keel line more can compensates for the volume lost near the decks.

Best advice I can give you is to just test sail several of these new hullshapes. You will find that some are worse than the older hulls (I'm not named any brands) and that others are noticeably better than the older shapes. It all comes down to wether the designer knew what he was doing. And this can only be determined by having a test sail on a particulary boat.

Personally I haven't seen any nacra with a "wave-peircer" like hull shape. Although rumour has it that Nacra is coming out with a new hull this winter. And that is all I know.

With respect to the Blade F16 and 3 to 5 ft steep waves, the reports that have come through suggest improved behaviour over the older hulls. Most conservative claim is that they're certainly not inferiour to the Taipan hulls and I feel that they are doing alright in these wave conditions. That last bit is from personal experience. Did a head to head comparison with a FX-one several weeks ago in short steep waves of about 3 to 4 feet with very light winds on top of that. I was sailing solo (as was he) and I was bobbing around like nobodies business but still FX-one faired no better or worse than my Taipan as far as I could tell. I had a little bit of speed advantage over him, but I guess I'm more in tune with my boat than he was since I've done many sailing hours this season. Also to me it seemed that his boat layed more stable on the water surface than my Taipan, even though he complained about the bobbing about as well.

But indeed, I know of designs that were presented as modern wave-piercers that did "do it" as intended. Again, it all comes down to whether the designer was skilled enough and had the hulls evaluated and redesigned where necessary.

Certainly in the A-cat class the newer hull shapes are considered a noticeable improvement over the older, more conventional hulls.

Several sailors who are familiar with both the Taipan (conventional hull) and the Blade's (modern hullshape) feel the same way now.

But don't take my word for it. Do a test ride and convince yourself.

I hope this helped.

Wouter

Wouter,

Thank you for your reply. I just had a feeling that the flat bottom of the blade would ride up and over a large steep wave then slam into the trough. I regularly in a blow feel like I almost get air. I think you eased my fears and I am happy to hear positive feedback.

Thank you for taking the time to post it was very helpful.

Matt

Matt,



I'm only commenting on the Blades right now, but the experienced behaviour on them is quite the opposite. The reports say that it actually riding the waves better and doesn't slam into the trough at all. I understand you mean "sinking the bow" when you say "slam". The flatter keel lines do slap the water surface more than the older V-shaped keel lines.





Of course I don't know what your fears were, but I can tell you one thing. There was a guy in the F16 class that "Ehhmm"-ed and "Errr"-ed for about a year. He couldn't see how those hulls could ever work. He was pretty certain that it would be a dog in waves. Then finally he took the plunch and in the first race he did, he and his crew saw 20 knots of wind and short steep chop. His wife wasn't to happy getting out in this stuff for the first time on a new boat and really preferred the Hobie 16. After the weekend was over, they were both completely sold on the Blade and the hull shape. Wife proposed to sell the Hobie 16 and sail the Blade from then onwards. You just don't get a better testimonial better than that.

Sadly I haven't sailed the Blade design myself yet so I can't neither confirm or deny this report personally. That is why I keep saying "test sail a Blade and see for yourself". Up till now all the test sailors have given very positive reviews on the hull shape. So I feel that after my own test sail I will warmly recommend the new hull shape of the Blade. But I first want to have my test sail as I've sailed other wave-piercer designs that didn't work, as well as some that did. So I know the good reports are completely possible but I want to check the Blades version for myself.





Your welcome and remember; don't take my word for it. Check-up on the claims yourself.

Wouter