Taipan with Hooter...

Hey, a friend of a friend is looking at racing a Taipan, Uni, with a Hooter instead of a spinnaker. Will the hooter "Fit" in the F16 rules as a spinnaker? What's the foot measurment on the F16 spinnaker need to be? I would guess that's the only measurement on a hooter that might be outside the box?

No, the real issue is the mid-girth measurement.

Translated ; the issue of not having the hooter be considered as a jib an be limited to an overall size of only 3.7 sq. mtr.

wouter

Fit some inflatable battens to the trailing edge like the keel boat guys were doing with their A0s

Is a hooter any easier to employ?

Depends how much you pay her.

It is. See VX40. Just furl or unfurl neraly effortless and faster. However the sail area is smaller and the sail is flatter in general (you can even sail upwind when the wind is light).

If the last U.S. Olympic effort is any indication, it isn't really as effective as a spinnaker.

US olympic effort a bit different. That sail was designed to go upwind and down due to the "expected" light conditions but ended up with one of the windiest Olympics in recent times. A proper hooter is for reaching and downwind. Different sail shapes and cut.

VX40s use furlers as they sail in very tight conditions and courses, but mainly the boats are very powerful. Hoisting and retrieving from a bag would be a nightmare and would require extra crew.

The Hooter is awesome and is nearly as fast as a spin off the wind. They are a bit flatter and you need to sail them a bit hotter than a full shoulder spin.
It is so cool to come into the leeward mark on starboard, with all the rights in the world, do a jibe while hauling in the Hooter, and come out right next to the mark close hauled. And all within the two length zone.
Also a breeze to round the windward mark, and simply release the retriever line from the cleat and let the Hooter do the rest. Best to have the sheet preset in the cleat before you round -- the sail will go out to the preset cleating position and all you have to do is steer the boat.
Secret is having a 1:2 ratio furler system. Use small stuff, strong, non-stretch for the furler drum. From there through an eyelet on the drum aft to a non-swiveling bullet block, around the shieve and back to dead end below the furler drum.
Attached to the bullet block is a big, old comfortable retriever sheet that is easy on the hands.
Now, for every foot of retriever line you pull, 2 feet of the furler line is furled.
Works really well.
Rick

in pictures (but 3 to 1)...

after some testing I am back to 1 to 1. As often the simplest solution is the best. Purchase is quite handy as Rick says, but also more prone to get tangled.
The best thing about the hooter is, that you can sail on hull upwind in light wind conditions, because it is so flat. On other boats a light wind day is boring, with a hooter it is fun. Can only recommend.

Cheers,

Klaus

is that an adjustable pole as well? That last photo seems to show what looks like the ability to swing right or left to move the foot of the hooter around...

If the hooter sail is flatter and must be sailed higher than a similarly fashioned spinnaker, can moving the pole to windward offset this apparent disadvantage?

I used Phill's hooter plenty of times on my Taipan. I never used it up wind but it made a huge difference down wind.
Nice and easy to use. There should be more of them.
Ps: If you want your hooter back Phill, let me know.

Refering to this thread: http://www.formula16.net/forum/showthread.php?t=158

I wonder if the hooter would be a better sail for Uni sailors?

It is. It is not hooter-specific, but since the boat has double fore-stays, it enables tight sheeting. If you really sail deep off wind, the pole moves to windward, but well the sail is not cut for that (it is more flat like a genoa or code zero), so it isn't fast sailing that way.

Cheers,

Klaus

Only proof could be found on the water. Mid girth rule prevents its usage in competion at the moment.
I guess that a hooter has slightly, but not much more aerodynamic drag than a conventional spi mid pole snuffer system. It has certainly no 'hydronamic' drag as a snuffer in rough waters. I guess that it is slightly less efficient. Its handling is much better. It has more top weight, but I didn't feel a difference in sea-going with or without it.
Many pro and cons.... differences are not so big at the end of the day.
But one thing which is unpayable is the fun factor:
Imagine it is a strong wind day. You spend 10 or 15 minutes on the beach just deciding if you go out or not. Once out would you hoist the spi on such a day? Since you can furl the hooter from the rear-beam you can always try it without big troubles. So you have more strong wind sailing with a hooter (=fun) than with a spi because the psychological barrier is lower.

Cheers again,

Klaus

Yes. One reason being that the boat is alot better behaved with the spi up.

Basically, I personally always pull the spi in rough conditions. I really dislike going downwind in the rough without.

I'm personally not at all against trying hooters and compare them to asym spi's. Problem is of course that this can not be done in official F16 races as that will open up a can of worms with regard to rating systems and open class racing. That is why the midgirth rule is in the class rules.

Personally, I'm not at all convinced the hooter is a faster sail then the modern asym.spi ESPECIALLY not in the rough winds. I find support for this opinion in the 2008 Olympics (Tornado class) On this criterium alone I would favour removing the mid girth rule altogether from the F16 class rules; but we the issues above negate this.

Something one has to accept a hit for the greater good.

Wouter

"can of worms" Worms bad, very bad.