I probably shouldn't be doing this, but ...

I probably shouldn't be doing this, but what the hell it will be fun.

Here are the tidied up results and data of all who participated in the F16 GC 2009 Gulfport USA.

10 Vipers, 7 Blades, 4 Falcons, 2 Taipans and 1 G-cat F16; in total 24 crews finished at least 2 races.

The event saw 8 singlehanded crews and 16 doublehanded crews.

Interesting to note (see the green numbers) is that the claim that Vipers were the first 5 boats over the line in the heavy wind days is not really reflected in the results.

Vipers were 1 to 5 in races.. 1, 2, 5, 6, 10, 11 and 12 (all strong wind days apparently)
But indeed were not in races 3, 4, 7, 8 and 9 ..........(as well as in light wind races 13, 14 and 15)


However, Viper crews were first 3 boats over the line in race 1 to 12 (heavy winds); still an incredibally impressive result, no doubt about that.

Best grouping of non-Vipers crews was in race 13 were 2 Falcons and a Blade laid claim to finish places 2 to 4.

Best score by a Taipan crew was 6th place in race 6 after that they stuck to midfleet placings; really not bad for an oldie. There doesn't appear to be that much difference between a 1-up and 2-up Taipan.

And of course we see how well Andi Lutz and Martin Schori did; they have put in 4 top 5 finishes on a Blade; 3 of them in heavy winds.

Team McDonald did 6 top 5 finishes overall on their Falcon F16. Also 3 of these in heavy winds.

It is also nice to note that after the previous two Global Challenges were won by a singlehanded F16 skipper (2007 : Hans Klok/Blade, 2008 : John Pierce/Stealth); this years GC was dominated by the doublehanded crews. All GC's up to now had big wind, so that can't be given as an excuse.

I would also like to point out that the top 3 skippers all have more experience racing at the top levels of the sport and more experience on the Viper, than nearly anybody else has on any other Viper or any other boat there...

It's still about the sailors, not the boats, as it should be.

Tim,

Are you addicted to Coke Zero? That last line sounds very familiar....

i had talked to Robbie just a few days prior to the GC we were talking about a "race to cure cancer" we had both participated in a few weeks earlier. he mentioned to me that he was real happy to sail the viper because he had only sailed it 3 times prior.....

And all the guys chartering or picking up their brand new Alter Cup Vipers had sailed them....zero times, and JC had just won the Alter Cup, sailing on a Viper, and Gregg Goodall, I don't know, but I'm guessing he's sailed it at least a couple times.

If you know how to sail well on a Capricorn or an A cat, the F16 is a peice of cake, just ask Robie D. or JC.