Stealth F16 promo video !

Remember, you saw it first here on the F16 forum !

Enjoy !

http://www.xs4all.nl/~whijink/Stealth_F16_promo_video_384kps.wmv


Actually it does a very nice job of showing both F16 setups. In many shots you can see the catrigged 1-up version side by side with the sloop 2-up version. Some good speeds are in the video as well. But probably best is the singlehanded righting at the end of the video. The guy doesn't hang form the righting line in a horizontal fashion and the boats pops up. Now that is what a singlehanded sail boat is all about !

And the bunch of pics I got with the video will find their way to the new website.

Wouter

Nice one; Shame about the swim at about 3:19.

Opps

Nice video!!


Is there a benefit to the "winged" rudders used by the stealth over the Taipan/Blade rudders?

And, are they interchangeable?

Excellent work by Aaron Young from Datchet. Our capsizee looked like Dave Tugwell I think?

Notice how much better looking the new Stealth is than my poor old 'White Rhino'

Galeo, the T foils do make a huge difference in that they help the boat to maintain a fairly constant attitude and reduce the tendency toward pitchpoling downwind. On a 3 sail broad reach you can feel the rudders load up as the bow starts to dip and even if the weight of the gust increases the bow goes no further! Mind you, it's still possible to bury the bows in a sudden, strong gust

John; can you feel the extra drag (from the T's) if you get to far forward in the light stuff ?

Awsome stuff....

But why is the spinnaker pole so high. Looks to me that you could pull it down a good meter. DOes the jib sheet from the tramp or self tacker on the beam. Looks to me that the jib needs to come down also. Add a 400mm to 500 mm strop on the bottom of the bridle like the Ts and bring the foot of the jib lower.

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Hi Stephen,

Yes, you're right. The pole on Aaron's boat does look a little high. Compare it with the pole on Dave's boat (the uni). In the shots where the two are side by side you can see that the angle of the unarigged boat is much lower.

or on my own boat:



The jib is on a self-tacker on the front of the main beam. You could physically get the whole setup about 200mm lower by changing the bridle geometry or using a 'prodder' (Dave's boat has one) but I'd want to recut the jib as well as it sets very well in its present position.

At the nationals we had the opportunity to compare 6 Stealths and it was fair to say that we were each 'doing our own thing' in various areas. We do need to race against each other a lot more to develop a consensus on what is the 'norm' or what is fast. Nonetheless, a good video for the class don't you think?

Scooby, yes I guess you can 'feel the drag'! Certainly I've made the mistake on several occasions of sitting forward and then wondering why I didn't seem to have any real boatspeed! It took a few attempts before I cottoned on to what I was doing!

Agreed Stephen. This video was shot on my second outing and still didn't have the proder to push the jib down at that stage. You'll be happy to know the pole tip is about 500mm lower now and the jib and kite sit much better.

On the subject of T-Foils. I recently did a long distance race without them. NEVER AGAIN!!!!
T-Foils can make you forget how tough a cat can be downhill in breezy conditions. Couldn't power up at all and spent most of the downwind legs running deep and slow. Not to mention a couple of pitchpoles when reaching.

Does anyone know if the pintle/gudgeon hardware on the T foils is compatible with those on other F16's like the Blade or Taipan so one could have both rudders and choose to use the T foils in heavy air and swap to the standard rudders in light air?

Jerry

The stocks for the Stealth rudders fix to the transoms using fairly standard looking bits so it might be possible. Probably easier to have a set of T rudders and a set of non-T ones and just change the blades over (although putting T rudders in the stocks certainly isn't a one person job!)

I will have to remember that when my new toy arrives (eventually......)

Aaron, which race was that; and my no T's ???

I feel a hijack coming on.......

So Scooby, does this mean you're going to be having a pair of Jon's new super light, high aspect ratio, short foil, carbon fibre stock mounted, T-foil rudders on your A2?

I had a good look at the first production stock out of the mould on Saturday and, one small glitch apart, they're going to be the dog's doo-dahs! They've got to be half the weight of the cast ali stocks. I particularly like the blades with the foils on the leading edge rather than the trailing edge as at present - it looks intuitively 'right'.

I'm not having an A2 (not sure where tht's come from); but yes, the new beastie will have T's

I understood you were going for a carbon reinforced A cat with spin - doesn't that make it an A2 equivalent?

How's that George?

Well, unless you can park the boat so the sterns are sitting over a large drop, you have to lift the boat and put the rudders in from the bottom. Last time I borrowed a pair it took three of us to remove them - two lifting the boat and one trying to push the blades out. Mind you, the T blades were a tighter fit than my own rudders. The other two Stealths up here keep their rudders in the stocks all the time because it's too much hassle taking them out.

Aahh! I understand now George. But why don't you just pull the pin on the rudder stocks, put the blades in and then put the stocks back on the boat?

I have to put on/ take off my rudder stocks every time I use the boat...

You are right, but I'm not sure where the reference to an A2 comes from; the Nacra A2 is without kite...

But yes; I am having a custon A classesque boat built (when I sell my I17):

basic spec is

A Class hulls
8foot 2 wide
9.5m carbon mast with approx 14.25 sqm mainsail
16sqm kite; Carbon pole mounted snuffler.

T foil carbon rudders and associated "steering" bits
Custom Carbon Plates
Carbon beams
Harken carbo/air blocks

Target weight is 83kg and then add 2kg of lead to get to 85kg which will rate it one point faster that a Tornado on SCHRS.

Still working on all the systems for DH, traveller etc.

So if you know anyone who wants an inter 17; send them by way and there will be a (large) beer commisson paid.....