No one has officially told us when and where for this regatta or what one should bring? Consequently it is not on our calendar listings.

Any chance you could make this official with a NOR, and info on whether to try and pick up crew for the sloop, or sail as a Uni.

Do class rules allow for another sailmaker -- since I normally sail uni with a Hooter, I had a sail made for sailing as a uni, rather than have the flatter bottom to accomodate the overlapped jib.

Are spinnakers part of the class?

Thanks

Rick

I will leave most of the details for Micheal to answer but I can answer some of your questions already.



Taipan Class rules do allow sails of a different sailmaker as long as the measure in. If you had a sail completely redesigned than might not be full complient but I don't think that that will be a big deal.



Spinnakers on the sidelines for this event at Tampa at least for the class races as the Taipan class doesn't allow them. However, I think that there was also an open race included in the program and Micheal expressed that they might do a friendly round around the cans with the spis to give the newbies a change to gain experience.



Rick, if youy do need a crew for the sloop then I'm anxious to volunteer myself. I can't garantee anything but as you know I'm looking at giving both events a try.



Wouter

We are refining it right now and should have it up on a web-site (with other info.) after next week. Here it is for now - subject to modification after it gets reviewed by those involved in running the race. Bear with us if we tweek it a little.



We can all decide to go cat-rigged or sloop in a few weeks (or combination).



Looks like its going to be a fun race with lots of participation.



Mike Taipan 4.9 #213



NOTICE OF RACE

TAIPAN 4.9 UNITED STATES CHAMPIONSHIPS

A-CLASS / OPEN CLASS MULTIHULLS



GULFPORT YACHT CLUB

4738 Del Rio Way

Gulfport, Florida 33707.



Gulfport Yacht Club (GYC) & Tampa Bay Catamaran Sailors, Inc. invites sailors of Taipan 4.9 (sloop or cat-rigged), A-Class, and Open Class Catamarans to be sailed on Boca Ciega Bay

November 9th & 10th, 2003, at the GYC.



Rules

The regatta will be governed by the current rules as defined in The I.A.S.F. Racing Rules of Sailing, 2001-2004.



Changes

Per Rule 86.1



Advertising

Series will be classed as Category C for advertising.



Eligibility and Entry

The regatta is open to beach cats 22’ and under with current US Portsmouth number.



Schedule of Events

Saturday November 9th, 2002:

7:00 - 10:00 am - coffee, orange juice, & doughnuts will be served.

8:00 - 9:30 am - registration and check-in.

10:00am - skippers meeting.

12:00 Noon! - 1st start/back to back racing.

No starts after 4:00 pm.



Sunday November 10th, 2002:

7:00 - 9:00 am - coffee, orange juice, and doughnuts will be served.

9:00 am - skippers meeting.

11:00 am - 1st start/back to back racing.

No starts after 3:00pm.

Trophies soon as possible after last race.



Registration

Friday, November 8th, 2002, from 5:00 - 8:00 pm is early registration at the GYC.

Pre-Register by mailing or e-mailing registration form.



Sailing Instructions

Instructions will be given at registration.



Fees

Solo $25.00

Double-Hand $35.00

Will these be the first Taipan 4.9 Nationals in the US?



Rob

You got it! And all of us could use any boatspeed advice you Aussies could give.

Thanks.

Michael Coffman

That's brilliant!!, I hope the event is very successful.



As for assistance in boat speed I doubt I can personally help you as I've only had my 4.9 for a couple of months. I am trying to collect as much information on sailing Taipans as possible for inclusion on my website:



http://www.users.bigpond.com/robandheath/atca/



At the moment there is an excellent article on sailing the 4.9 cat rigged by one of our top cat rigged sailors, Darren Peters. There is another article in this forum on sailing cat rigged by James. You'll notice the approaches are different but have both resulted in wins in National Championships.



I'm having trouble getting tips on sailing sloop rigged but there are some brief but useful tips from Daniel van Kerckhoff (a former Australian sloop champion) on sailng the 4.9 down wind.



There is also an article written by Jim Boyer about the principles of sailing with the superwing mast. This, and the above mentioned article are excellent starting points I've found.



There is another excellent article on sailing the 4.9 sloop written by Greg Goodall on the new AHPC website:



http://www.ahpc.com.au



I hope this has been of some use. The best way to learn to go fast on the 4.9 would be to come over and sail in the Australian championships in the new year. The exchange rate is very favourable at the moment. Details on the Australian Championships can be found on my website.



If you have any questions about sailing the 4.9 post a question on the Yahoo Taipan forum and you will hopefully get a useful reply. Details on the Taipan forum are also on my site.



I'm going to write a news article on the website about the first Taipan championships in the US to go on my site. As soon as you have any more news and results I'll put those up too.



Rob

Taipan 4.9 AUS175

Mike,



I notice that in the NOR for the national titles the dates are listed as Nov 9,10 2003 but further down the dates the dates are for 2002. I assume that they are actually occuring this year and not next year.



Will you please verify this.



Thanks,



Rob.

Rob,

Good eye... you're right, it's this year. 2002 (I think that's the current year, but I sometimes get confused by complicated stuff like that ;-)

Thanks for catching that.

Michael Coffman

Hi Wouter,

IF you can make it, I do need crew. Otherwise, I can get my nemisis in Wave Class sailing to crew with me -- live in the area.

Sounds like sailing as a Uni I might be the only boat, so plan on sailing as a sloop.

Rick

Okay, seems that with the rooms shortage I need to finalize things soon. I will start poking my boss for days off.



I'm currently looking at : Going to the Taipan nationals in Tampa with you then. And sailing in the F16HP nationals with either Kirt on Kirts boat or with another crew on your boat.



I will keep you posted.



Wouter