In this posting I answer a few items from several different posters. Zee, I'll answer your questions last, forgive me <img src="http://www.catsailor.com/forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif" alt="" />.


First Dave.



I am fully aware of that. Now if you had done your homework then you would know that the Middle East is nearly always included in the European market. Meaning that European dealors and head offices service that region when no major offices are to be found locally. Therefor the European Inter-17 situation is of importance. I actually mentioned this in one of my earlier postings.

But even without this element, it is still a very long stretch to call the I-17 a One-design class simply because of the local situation around the great lakes in the USA. Go to a different continent and you'll find all the other 5 different versions of it. In some regions like Europe you'll find several different versions on the same cirquit.

As of yet Nacra has not made any effort to unify this class to a single version as evidenced by the fact that dealors in Australia, Europe and USA all offer an different version as a new I-17.

This says nothing in particular about the I-17 being a good boat or not. Just that its claimed One-design status is boogus.

I would consider knowing this background as having done my homework.




These spitfire sailors are indeed in Dubai and they are Peter and Carol Eldridge. A Blade F16 went there as well in 2006. Its sailnumber is UAE719 and it is sailed by David and Sana Holligan.

The both have listed themself on out F16 class member world map, although during the last website make-over we seem to have lost some pins like that of team Eldrigde. Here are the pics of them with their boats.

http://www.frappr.com/formula16classgroup/photos/96235

http://www.frappr.com/formula16classgroup/photos/2662576

World map member page : www.frapper.com/formula16classgroup





I think Zee (Sarah) is much too light for the DK17. Her body weight should be right in the range of A3 that you specify. Personally I think the A3 will carry more weight then you specify.





It is not trouble for me. I can talk boats for hour on end. I don't have much time to do so lately but since I'm back at home and being ill I have more time to spend on this then I really would like.





Okay, specifically about the F16's now and again you must choose what boat suits your desire the best.

If price isn't an issue then I would advice the following setup, this includes several aspects from different F16 which you can combine into one boat as price is not an issue.

Take as the base platform the 2007 version of the VWM Blade F16 order it with catamaran parts daggerboards and rudders (which should be standard for the 2007 version if I'm informed correctly), order a Saarberg or Scott Anderson carbon mast for it and have either Andrew Landenberger or Glaser cut a suit of sails for it upon specifying your weight and/or intended usage (only solo or mixed solo doublehanded). I was personally very impressed by the Landenberger F16 spinnaker design of 2006. We from Glaser sails that he can make a very good F16 singlehander mainsail for the range were your body weight is expected to be. Paul Killkenny is most probably of your stature and his Glaser sail is just right for him. Forget about any carbon beams and such as they are useless. Current F16 platform stiffness of the 2007 Blade is the same as any carbon A-cat, even with aluminium beams and despite the fact that the platform is significantly wider. I think that having the hulls made out of kevlar laminate is an option that costs 500 Euro's extra, or in that range. I would get it. Reasons, kevlar is a little lighter then the standard glass laminate and it has the best impact resistance of all laminates. In effect you can hit it with your knees, elbows and trapeze hook and not dent it or crack it. With it the hulls will take alot of abuse which is especially handy when your landing area isn't pure sand but a little bit rocky or something. And in your case I would seriously consider T-foil rudders. You don't need them in 5 - 10 knots of wind, but above 10 knots they really make the platform stable in the fore-aft direction which will mean that even in a big blow it will be as easy as a kitten under spinnaker. When I sailed the Stealth F16 I found that the T-foil rudders would allow you to throw the boat around practically without a care even in big winds as it would feel very firm. Many of us F16 sailors sail without T-foils and that is really not an issue, but if you are a little bit intimidated by that spinnaker then gettting these may be a smart move.

In the way of speed. It will most definately be fast in 7 knots of wind. I would even dare to say that it would be among the fastest beach catamarans available today if it would not be the fastest of all in these conditions (when singlehanded). Because in 7 knots of wind the spinnaker will start to draw well and get you down the downwind leg both fast and deep. The F16 carbon rig would make use of the many years of A-cat development that has gone in this type of rig and as such would make your upwind performance quite impressive. The catamaran parts rudders and daggerboards are pretty much state of the art, again due to many years of develop in other classes. Combined these three aspects should make it faster then a modern A-cat around the course although maybe not by very large margins. I'm convinced however that you would be significantly faster on it as it is just much easier to drive the spinnaker downwind and go fast there then it is to wildthing the A-cat to its topspeed downwind.

The A-cat is a beautiful concept of efficiency, that it really is. But it is also sensitive to how you sail it as well as trim and tuning changes. The F16's behave in a similar fashion but in a less extreme manner. Mostly because of the spinnaker. For example, setting the spinnaker on the downwind legs allows you to maintain your upwind setting mainsail settings (excluding traveller and mainsheet) and still go fast downwind. Meaning that you only have to adjust the mainsail for the conditions of the day once and then you can just let it be for the rest of the sailing trip. To get the A-cat to performan well you'll really do need to adjust the settings of the whole rig when you chance courses. This one reason but there are others as well.

Compating the A-cats to F16's will show the aluminium masted F16's to be less smooth in feel then the A-cats, but as money is not an issue with you, you can just get an carbon F16 mast and negate this difference.

My cost estimate of this Blade F16 I specified above is 17.500 Euro's and this includes all the upgrades and a full doublehanded suit of sails and lay-out. If you only sail solo then not buying the jib setup could lower the price by about 500 Euro's I think. Glaser sails are current most attractive pricewise as well, so you are not losing any money there either. Basically this very much upgraded F16 would be cheaper then the European quotes I saw for the alternatives named in this thread, with the Shadow as the only exception. My A2 quote is of early 2006 and then it was ludicrously more expensive then 17.500 Euro's. They may well have come down since, it is worth checking out.




See my earlier comment. You could go down there and get to test sail some of these boats. That will always be a smart thing to do.



You are welcome.

Wouter