I officially placed my order for a Blade with Matt. I have owned a Prindle 16, Prindle 19 and Hobie 20 over the last 20 years mostly for racing. All my friends freaked when they found out I was down sizing. The Hobie fleet here will not be to happy that I didn't go with the Tiger.

This will be the first F16 type boat in Arizona. I will be sailing it mostly in Mexico (Rocky Point) and California (San Diego, Long Beach, Ventura..Ocean Races). I should have it by the first week of July.

My goal within a year is to beat a friend of mine that sails a Hobie Tiger. If this happens, I think Matt will start seeing more orders from Arizona. Many sailors here are intimidated by the bigger boats and would be much more likely to get a spinnaker boat if it was smaller and lighter, like the Blade.

Congratulations! You will not be disapointed, especially in light air. The F18 is a pig in light air like San Diego, but the Blade, being over 150lbs. lighter, will ghost along nicely and you can race it solo.

My new Blade should be delivered soon. I've already got a a pair of Tornado owners all hot and bothered to check it out. They are also having issues with there being more boat owners than crew around.

Way to go Stephen! Please join the class association. http://www.f16.beasts.org/

Where are we gonna hold the Nationals?

Congratulations!

With all these new Blades around, has anyone found a source for boat covers for the Blade? I'm currently talking to a sail maker in the UK about making a custom cover, but I wonder if anyone has already done it?

Paul

Stephen,




The trick with the F16's is finding the right sail trim. Yes, this is indeed slightly different from other designs.

With the wrong sail trim the F16 can feel as intimidating like a big boat. With the right sail trim it will be as smooth as a babies bottom and fully under control. With speed just so. If you sail it like you would any standard catamaran then you'll go alright but not really fast.

The thing to remember here is that the F16 need to trimmed for low drag all the time. Both in light winds and strong winds. Only in the mid range winds can you get away with a more powerful trim. This most often means that flat and open is fast. So keep the leech open enough (twist) so the sail can breath freely. When the boat feels bound up, as in that it should go faster in the given conditions then it is, then don't go looking for power. Look for reducing drag by pulling on more downhaul, adding more twist on the leech or having the top of the mast flex to leeward by derotating the mast. In 3/4 of the cases you'll feel the boat speed out while you just depowered your rig. This is a conflicting feeling but it works. The boat will start to stream and will have as added benefit that it will also feel very calm. Just the right remedy for crews who feel intimated. They want a smoother ride and more control not slower speeds !

Read up on the various trim tips that have been discussed over the last 3 years on this forum. And never stop looking for that extra groove, because they are really there in the F16 designs. Often you'll find them accidently by making a trim adjustment and the boat suddenly becoming happy and accellerating. Remember what you did and in what circumstances, this is the only way to learn the right trim for F16's if there are no more experienced crews around.

Several of us got these lessons force feeded to us in 10 minutes by extremely skilled Taipan 4.9 sailors and it took us weeks to digest it, but it also shaved years of our learning curve.

Never accept it when the F16 just can't hang with the bigger boats. It is not the design that is at fault but the sail/boat trim. Gary, Bob and others like myself are finishing ahead of teh majority of F18's/Tiger's regulary and so must everybody else with the right trim.


Best of luck and enjoyment with your new boat. Welcome to the club !

Wouter

We are working with Kinder industries patterning out the Blade now for a custom cover.

Their stuff is top shelf. http://www.kinder-industries.com/


Matt

By the way, that site's now running on http://www.formula16.org/ too.

Paul

Yes - I came across their site when looking for places to do a cover, but didn't enquire as I'm in the UK. Do you have any sort of ETA on this?

Paul

One vendor that sells Kinder covers told me it would be two weeks (two days ago was when he told me that). I can vouch for their craftmanship. I was actually getting ready to order a Fx-One cover and modify it to make it fit (or else just pull it down tight).

My 1994 N5.5 SL still had gelcoat "shine" when I sold it last fall. The cover was responsible for protecting the boat from UV. The cover looked like s**t, but that is what they do.

From what I understand - these are "yard covers" and not meant to be used for "socks" while travelling (i.e. they will not be fitted enough to trailer with).

sweet deal! post pics when she arrives.

Robi did you finish Rick's course in the Keys,how was it hard easy mild.

For me it was half and half. I learned alot in a matter of a few days. I still have not been able to put into practice. If you are considering doing it, DO IT! its damn worth it.

Stephen,

Consider yourself invited to put your pin on our world map !

go to :

http://www.frappr.com/formula16classgroup


Wouter

You will not have a problem keeping up with the Hobie 20s or Tigers! Congratulations on thinking outside of hobiecentrism.

congrats. got my blade 2 weeks ago and have not been able to put it down. way too much fun. does anyone know where i can get a daggerboard bag/cover?

I made my own, cost around 10 bux max. Give it a shot.

No I do not have pix either.

What sort of extras have you ordered? Carbon, internal downhaul?

internal downhaul? didn't even know it was offered. just got a basic go fast blade. have been following the posts though on the main hoists though and am considering changing over to a wire halyard with a ball catch at the mast base. its been too frustrating trying to snag the ring at the top. did you get drain plugs or are your hulls pretty dry each sail?

There is a 12:1 internal downhaul offered as an option from the builder.

Also, you might try doing a search of this forum. I believe there was a discussion a few weeks back.