Start foul-up when late for the start or, dare I say it, inexperienced. The latter refering of course to the experiences being caught out on the water in 20+ winds with an improper rigged spi sheet. Been there a few times myself when singlehanding.




Some will say this is a bad thing about the F16, others (like myself) feel that it is part of the racing. Much like the Aussie 18 foot skiffs. It certainly opens up the racing as anyone can and often will capsize making the race open to anyone till the very last moment. Keeping it up in any conditions is just as much a skill as making it go fast. Although there are tricks.

As a note on the side. Are we really submitting these boats to a heavy use endureance test or what ?

Over the last year we predominantly had big wind if not huge wind regatta's !



Common trick here is to pull on the mainsail and downhaul simultaniously. Pulling ONLY on the downhaul will get heavy when you want alot of mast downhaul tension. Pulling on the mainsheet and then pulling some more on the downhaul really works. That is unless you have a 6:1 or 8:1 rigged now. But the 12:1 should be sufficient, the difference to 16:1 or even more (if practical) is not that much after all.

I'm anxiously waiting for the pics.

Wouter