we just left the calmness of the harbour bay when the first gust hit us running downwind... I sailed the 4.9 before only alone and did not yet experienced that much wind with the boat, still had the feeling this boat likes pitch poling very much and today my worst expectations were surpassed! this boat is a nose-diving bitch! we (150kg) were pressed as far as possible at the rear beam, traveller 85% eased, quite some twist in the main shape and any small wave we hit the question: will we stay or will we go? with the spi up things (as expected) becalmed, still it was not really possible to press hard as you always got full speed stopped in the next little wave head...
Of course I raised my mainbeam by 25 mm and told AHPC they should really consider this mod.
Having said this, you should really not sail with a full sail like that. Pull it tight and make it flat. Also put your crew on the wire and place him (or her) at the rearbeam or (when needed) at the stern. Have them use the footstraps or have them hang on to your lifevest.
Thing with the Taipan is that when sailing 2 up in a blow on a reach the crew should be at the rearbeam or behind it. Sitting next to one-another between rearbeam and side stay is not what the boat likes. That way you still have too much weight forward of where you want it to be.
On other course you really shouldn't have a problem (upwind) ; or flying the spinnaker will sort things out significantly (downwind).
So learn as a reflect ; reaching in a blow => flat sails and crew in trapeze and behind the skipper or to the rear of the skipper.
Else she will make like a submarine.
after sailing a lot of different designs (although mostly 18 and 20 ft) this boat is the worst downwind sailor I have in my memories!
Fly the spinnaker on the downwind legs; in all conditions. This will make a big difference.
I can name a few other makes both 17 and 18 foot that have the same issues when sailing downwind in a blow.
I would definitely say the boat is missing definitely some more volume in the bows beneath the waterline! I just sailed a hobie tiger in a 7 beaufort wind a couple of months ago and although I would say the hobie has also this ugly nose-diving tendency, with the 4.9 it seems to threaten you already 2 beauforts earlier!
I found that you really have to flatten the Taipan rig or else she will take a run with you. Also you should really be more sharp in steering here. When sailing in blow on these legs without a spi, you really need to start baring away as soon as you feel her accellerating. If you do it ride and with care you can ride her on the groove. But it must be said that the groove is definately a fine line when not flying the spinnaker.
Personally, I'm always pulling the kite no matter what the conditions or wether I'm alone or with crew. These 16 footers really do like sailing with a set kite, it makes a huge difference in my experience. The boat just calms down significantly without losing speed.
When under spi then learn to use the main traveller to quickly depower in the gusts.
regarding the behaviour of the boat for me sailing today was more nightmare than fun, although I naturally enjoy these kinds of conditions. but here I had the feeling boyer has put something together terribly wrong and miscalculated either the volume of the front sections and/or the position of the mainbeam!? (maybe already less volume in the rear would help) just to not raise wrong speculations: we were using significant mast rake, high rig tension, noticeable brebend in the must and we didn’t' even had the jib with us!
Sail her differently then you are used too. Sure enough all points you raise will help and will/are incorporated in the newer designs, however the Taipan can be driven hard when you build up enough skill.
looking at the theory the story gets some reasons: you have a 4.9m short boat (89% of the length of a f18) with a 8.5m tall and quite heavy aluminium mast(95% length of a f18 mast) and a hull shape design with narrow V-shape bows dating back to the 80's cat design times...
Do the math yourself and see that the "enertia to hull length" ratio is exactly the same as on the F18's. You are looking for easily ways out. The hull shape is definately less refined than what can be had with newer designs but that is not the whole story.
A said earlier, part of the trick is to get the crew weight behind to skipper (crew needs to be on the wire). It differs from the F18's here because, well, most of the shortening of the hulls is down at the sterns. So rearbeam and such are closer to the centre of bouyancy than on a F18.
still I read everywhere what a superior boat the 4.9 is and just recently an Australian sailor visited us totally convinced (when asked if it wouldn't be time for AHPC to come up with something more modern like a Capricorn F16)that the new F16 hull shapes (Blade, Stealth etc.) wouldn't do better than the Taipan.
Well, I don't agree with the Aussie sailor on this aspect although you may find that the difference is less big than you think (or hope for). There is actually a quite powerful rig on the F16's and the wingmast rig results in a sail that is cut relatively full. If you don't flatten it with leech tension and downhaul then it will develop lots and lots of power in big wind.
Derotate the mast fully if you feel out of control (and aren't flying the spi). Let the mast top bend away to lee, this will really depower the boat when the sails are pulled flat. Don't worry about the large deflections, the mast can take it.
Regarding my experiences today, I can only hope they do! In the A-cat the flat underwater shaped (planning) Flyer have replaced all V-shaped Auscat MK4. When Bim developed the Javelin the design proofed to be much more nose-diving than the earlier Bim 2000... so it always depends on details in the lines.
Ohh, I do have a larger squaretop main instead of the standard Taipan main. I can actually flatten my mainsail with my mainsheet when sailing in big wind without worrying that I'm hooking or sailing without twist. The fat head will just move leeward in such big winds no matter how much the leech tension.
Maybe that is helping too (in my personal situation).
Tomorrow we expect more wind. Will give the nose-diving bitch another try, but already start so see myself in a shed in winter flexing open the hulls to add some volume in the bows beneath the waterline...
I can tell you right now that you'll gain less by this then by giving your depowering techniques and weight placing techniques a workover.
Also I found that you can bury her without pitchpoling if both of the crew stay were they are. My crew and I sometimes just jam the boat through the waves after having found a secure hold. Alot of spray will be thrown-up but we keep up speed. It is a big scare/thrill, I'll admit too that. It is not my most beloved way of sailing the Taipan, but sometimes the off set mark is quite some ways away and you just have to blast on a beam reach to it.
at least, I think after wanting to call my boat 'flexcat' (due to the noticeable little stiffness of the platform), 'nose-diving bitch' becomes an alternative... specially when thinking of the big head mainsail I just ordered...
Alright !
Well, we'll just let you spend some more time on the boat in these winds and discover the tricks. Actually, I also do some landyachting and when a gust hits there then you better be quick with steering or you'll hit the beach flat with 80 km/h.
So in summary (when not flying a spi).
Pull sails really flat, don't sail with too much twist.
Derotate mast rotation.
Put crew on trapeze behind skipper or to the rear of skipper. Fit chicken lines or footstraps when prefered.
Carefully steer up till you see the upper leeward tell tale starting to stream, the boat will immediately accellerate, start baring off as soon as you feel the boat accellerate. Get a feel for the dynamic of this, when you do you can keep the boat on the groove with small s-curves without burying the bows.
Learns to steer properly when passing wave. The boat will seriously accellerate when running down a wave, more than F18's and such. You'll NEED to compensate for that by baring off slightly. When climbing up the next wave you'll have to luff a bit again. Try to get the right rithm here. Learn to steer by inspection and mental prediction of what will happen and not only steer to correct an occuring mishap. By then you are too late.
OR !
Pull a spinnaker and sail with that.
And ohhh, when sailing the Taipan. Time your baring off from upwind to downwind carefully and synchronize with the waves and gusts OR CREW. This is the most difficult manouvre on a Taipan in a blow and rough conditions. Mostly because you have too little speed and a too sharp increase in drive when baring off to a beam reach.
I'm trying to train me crew to instictively move to the rear of me while staying on the trapeze after I get in and steer to a beam reach. This should work. Up till now however, my crew was too unstable on the wire to try this trick.
Give it a try,
Good luck
Wouter