Hi Kirt,
Funny, but Dave had to practice all week. The guy he sailed with had never sailed before and Dave only sails about 2 or 3 times a year.., usually too busy working. Also, he had never sailed a Taipan at all before that week.

As for a furling spinnaker, I believe that can be done. Calvert told me last year that he could design a sail that would meet the rule and still be a Hooter-type. The whole mid-girth rule just seems silly to me when the Hooter is a smaller sail. And it appears that the Hooter sail is only penalized in Texel.., certainly not in the USA. In fact, with the DPN Rating the Hooter took less of a hit than the spinnaker until a couple of years ago.
And since the USA supposedly makes up 25% of the worldwide class, you would think we could have a bit more say in the whole thing.

The mid-girth thing is no doubt a carry-over from monohull thinking.