if you haven't received this months sailing world, it has a write up on the f16 Blade.
What a sweet boat. Matt is doing a great job.

Anyone considering buying a Blade and can make it in April to the F16 event in Gulfport, FLA, come down and see for yourself what a sweet boat it is. It looks as if the f16 class is moving forward strong.

Sounds great!
Would it be possible to make a scan of the article?
Thx

Indeed, I would love to have a copy/scan of the article as well.

I wholely agree that Matt is doing a fantastic job.



It is certainly beginning to look that way. I'm expecting to see 2 new Blade F16's at my own home club this season and meet them regulary in my club races. We are finding that there is serious interest in the design here locally. A few are going to Germany as well as UK.

I'm really looking forward to the upcoming season !

Wouter

I just received a copy of the Sailing World article ; Here are some teasers

(The test sailors were Chuck Allen and Matt McDonald)


"The conditions were wild and wooly, with a puffy 20 knot breeze and a nasty chop"

"... launch the boat in the shore break and then witnessed what judge Alan Andrews (BOTY) described as ;"watching a ball of spray scream across the horizon."

"Much like an A-class cat, there's no hobbiehorsing"

"BOTY judge Meade Gougeon, who owns and races an A-class cat ... and is familiar with high performance multihlls, was likewise impressed with the Blade. "The design appeared to be unusually forgiving when the leeward bow was stuffed in a wave at speed downwind," He says. "I wouldn't have believed that this boat could have survived what it did if I hadn't seen it with my own eyes. Twenty years ago ... would've been considered impractical for heavy air but we all saw how well the thing worked in big air and waves."


Sadly there are some errors in the article, for example our mast height grew from 28 feet to 30 feet and then to 32 feet, but overall the article is extremely positive on the Blade design.

This is one major "two thumbs up"

Thank you Sailing World !

Wouter

Wouter, I think they might have been measuring the mast tip off the water, still, I think it's a little high, what is the actual length of just the mast itself? I know the step is about a foot above the waterline with crew on board.

Anybody else notice the blurb "In 2000, a group of European catamaran racers...developed the Formula 16 box rule." This from an American publication!!
Phill- I guess we are officially "European" now!
I wonder where they got that information?
Hope the Blade does well in the BOTY awards!! Would be great for the class to see another article on the new G-cat F16 too and have it considered for the BOTY- Imagine - TWO F16 candidates for the BOTY (so far-) in one year!


Kirt

Not my doing ! I always call this F16 effort a combined US, Aus, EU projects as it indeed was from the very beginning.

WOuter

Sailing World alread did their 2005 Boat of the Year awards, the Reynolds 33 won for Multihulls over the Blade. They only give ONE award for all Multihulls, which is too bad, as they give out about 5 for the mono's (Best Dinghy, Best Racer-Cruiser, Best Cruiser-Racer, Best Racer-Racer, etc...) To try to compare the R33 to the Blade is nuts, like trying to compare a Laser to a Melges 32. They should have at least two Multihull awards, one for "Beach Cats" and one for Large Cats. The G Cat might be elligible for 2006.

True mast height 8.5 mtr (28 feet).

In the article they also quote us as having 19.7 sq. mtr. upwind sailarea instead of the real 18.7 sq. mtr.

But you won't hear me complain about the article !

Wouter

Is that the mast length (28) or height of tip above water line? I think that is the mast length, so add a foot for above water line.

mast length; from mastfoor plate to top of mast, not height above the watersurface.

Wouter

Wouter,

From the open forum, I see that you would go with the Kevlar option on the Blade and forego the carbon foils if on a budget, where I was originally thinking the opposite. Now, I understand the benefits of Kevlar and I suspect this would be a good option, especially for beach storage, where kids jump up and down on your boat when you are not there. So now it comes down to the carbon foil option to decide on. Money is not the issue, but having to endure the eyebrow raising from the wife as the cost of the boat keeps going up. At last years price upgrade of $1000, I could not justify it, but at $390, I'm on the fence. Any thoughts on if it is worth it or not? I'm not a great racer, but I'd rate myself a good or very good racer and in reality I'll probably be pleasure sailing a lot more than I'll be racing as I have been shifting away from racing over the years.

Thanks,

Jamie

A couple comments on carbon daggerboards and rudders: Although weight savings is one advantage, it is not the real reason to get this upgrade. I went with carbon foils for their stiffness. That's the real benefit. For pleasure sailing that would make no difference; for racing there will be a benefit.

Eric is correct about stiffness.

Give special thought to the torsional rigidity. If a foil is twisted and the velocity of the medium (water) flowing over it is fairly constant from the top end to the bottom end, then there will be only one place along the span of the foil that will be truly in tune or having the proper angle of attack. The rest of the foil will be attacking at a different than desired angle.

GARY

Jamie,

If money is no problem then go for it. If the wife will transition from "awwh, ..., okay then" to "Uh-huh ! ain't having none of that" then I would forego carbon in the split second that she needs to inhale before saying no.

Of course US$390 on a total of what 13.000 US$ is pretty small chance.

Stiffer is better and the additional costs seem to be reasonable. The final decision you have to make yourself I'm afraid, I'm not going to do that for you.

Wouter

A friend (who had watched me right my Stealth after capsizing) was quite concerned when he capsized his and then felt the board bending underneath him when he stood on it! His are glass, mine are carbon....

Jamie, my boat has carbon foils. You will see how they are when we go sailing together.

I have stood on my daggerboards when flipped and they DO NOT FLEX one bit. They dont even "crack" (that sound of flexing fiberglass)

Definatley go with the carbon upgrades.

If you aspire to being a true sailer then you have to get your priorities right, always keep in mind the adage "It's easier to get a new wife than it is a new boat" (never tell her that though and think it, DON'T say it) If you WAN’T carbon, then you need carbon.

Those daggers are only 1.2 kg in weight = less 3 lbs. Who said you can't build things light and strong at the same time ?

Wouter

Jamie,

If you can get one glass and one carbon dagger, do the following:

Place them with the ends on a bucket or sawhorse and then stand in the middle of the board.

If you do this test, you will buy the carbon boards. End of discussion.