You replaced the stock rudders and rudderstock with Viper rudders and (alu) stocks ?
That suprises me, from the look I had in 2007 these Viper components were most certainly not superior.
Beams, yes.
dropped on the most advanced F16 rig.
Well, that Ullman rig that was on it was not exactly a winner. I have experienced myself the difference between the Ullman and Ashby or Glaser sails and it was quite noticeable. That Ullman rig is a passed station for at least 1.5 years now in my opinion. A real pitty as Ullman should really have been able to design a good suit of sails, but ...
Downwind well, that was a lot more interesting.
I think the hybrid Blade and Taipan are subject to the same behaviour. You have to start steering the boat down BEFORE the gust or wave hits the boat under spinnaker, not after or during them. Many sailors seem to forget this dictum. Of course, this can be "corrected" by putting heaps of volume in the bows but beyond some point only at the expense of something else. Having said this I personally think there is some room in the hybrid Blade for additional bow height and therefor a little more volume. I think the Aussie Blade has gotten the distribution just right as indeed the Viper seem to have. I overheard some designers comment on this topic during the 2007 Global Challenge and the consensus seemed to be that mostly bow height was important here and much less overall volume. The hulls of the Viper are very tall and the Aussie Blade are taller as well. Taipan is modestly tall but has almost no volume there and the VWM Blade is halveway between these. Still, with proper technique this difference can be corrected quite well. And the proper technique is to start steering down before the gust hits, accellerate the turn during the gust and start head-up when the gust starts winding down. Again, this makes quite a difference and should also be employed on the Viper and Aussie Blade for maximum performance.
One more suggestion. Move that rotation arm from underneath the boom to above the trampoline. No drawbacks worth mentioning and you'll increase the perceiped space on the trampoline significantly. Less eyepoking during fast 2-up gybes. Stitch some small strips of cloth on the trampoline in an arc like fashion and you'll have your mast rotation measurement for quick resetting.
Good luck nice to hear about these experiments ! Anxious for more.
Wouter
