I have just returned from Amsterdam where I was lucky enough to get a ride on a new Blade in what I can only describe as most excellent conditions of wind, sunny 78F weather and flat water, with an offshore breeze of 10-15. I was on a 24 hour layover so we sailed only Saturday, the racing was on Sunday and I missed it, but on Saturday we had two new Blades and Wouter's Tai Pan F16 to go and practice. We were sailing in the North Sea with a pretty good swell running, which made for some great surfing downwind, with a gusty wind off the land, it was very nice conditions for some fast two up trapp sailing upwind and single trap spinnaker sailing downwind.

Both of the Blades had come over in May and they said that month was lousy weather so they really only started sailing them in June, so neither boat had much time on it.

There were a couple of new crew to the Blade who were being taken out for demo sails too, so we just played around with each other and enjoyed the day.

Frank Boom has sail number 013 and took out a couple of different crew to show them the boat. They had a great time and the crews were impressed. I spoke with Frank afterwards and he told me to tell Matt he is very happy with the boat. Both the new crew liked it too.

The Blade I was on was number 014, owned by Geert Ruesink. We first took off the beach in pursuit of Wouter and a new crew from Belgium, Gill de Bruyne, who is interested in getting into serious cat racing. They did not have the jib on, we did, so we caught them going upwind when the gusts came and we could double trap and really use the extra power of the jib.

After lunch Frank came out to play as well, with Louis Schuurman, and we had a tougher time with them going upwind as they also had the jib on. I think the boats are very evenly matched but the wind was very shifty and gusty near the shore, so we were almost never sailing in the same wind strength or direction, but we kept pace with each other most of the time.

OK, now for the fun part; Downwind! What a ride we had!! We were not racing to a mark so we could sail the optimum course with every wind gust. I got out on the wire and luckily Geert has put footstraps all the way at the back on his boat, (Frank doesn't have them on yet) so I got back there and sheeted the spinnaker while Geert surfed the waves up and down, heating it up, get it up on one hull, then carving down the wave front, for mile after fast mile! What a ride! The footstrap saved us many times as we did stuff the hull(s) pretty hard several times but never came close to a pitchpole. I did swallow about a gallon of the North Sea however! The nose would stuff up to the mast but as I dumped the spin and leaned back the bows would pop right back up. Frank was being more conservative because his crew was new to spinnaker sailing on a cat, and he had no foot strap, so he kept it on two hulls and was going fast but a little lower than we were. Still, his GPS showed him going 33Killometers ph! (I think that's about 19 knots?) We were going a little faster but headding higher. On a race course where you have to sail to a mark, I don't know which technique would have turned out faster. It was really fun not having to worry about that and just sailing for pure speed! <img src="http://www.catsailor.com/forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif" alt="" />

Enough about my fun, how about the Blade?? Well, Geert is not a small guy, he is tall, maybe 6'+ but thiner than me, I think he said 80 kilos? I'm short and fatter, being from America, home of the Big Mac and BK Wopper, maybe 85 kilos, but I also had on a full body wetsuit, which was carying quite a bit of water as I was eating most of the wave tops going downwind. Every time the windward hull came down I got hosed fully in the face. My eyes still sting, I had forgotten to pack my sunglasses. <img src="http://www.catsailor.com/forums/images/graemlins/shocked.gif" alt="" />

So at about 170 Kilos of crew, the boat performed beautifully. We were in no way too heavy for it in 10-15 and with my weight on the wire downwind it would easily fly a hull with Geert sitting on the tramp at my feet. I would say that any crew who are not too heavy for a F18 would also be good on the Blade in every wind but very light. And then you would want as light a crew as possible any way, but you would be overpowered upwind with a light crew in the wind we had.

We didn't have to ease the traveler at all going upwind and almost never let out the main, but again, we were not trying to sail to a mark so we could just head up or down with the gusts. The boat was just right for our weight and that wind.

I think the crews who sail F18's and I20's but have never sailed a real F16 will be very surprised at how well the Blade caries weight when they race it at the Alter Cup. I would have been overpowered solo with main only if I had been sailing it like that, Wouter was double trapping with just his main on but he and his crew were a little lighter than we were and Frank was double trapped most of the time too.

The boat, being only 16 feet long, is more sensitive to were you stand when going upwind and down, than an 18 or 20 footer of course. We would occaisionally stuff the low bow going upwind but it doesn't slow it down much and all you have to do is take a short step to the back and it pops right up. The hulls are very full all the way to the stern so you can get your weight way back when going downwind, keep the bows up and not sink the sterns.

I was very favorably impressed with the boat and I may have to find crew, since I think I will be too light solo in anything but very light air. I don't think any of the Alter Cup skippers should be worried about finding a "small crew" just for that regatta. I would instead find a crew that can run the spinnaker well and knows how to rotate the wing mast.

The mast rotation is much more important than on most cats because the Super Wing mast is flatter and has a much longer chord, if it isn't faired into the mainsail it really makes the telltales dance so you must make a large adjustment from going upwind to downwind, to upwind again. You can really feel it and see it when it's not right so find a crew that can handle that.

Well, I think that's about all I have time for today, I just got back last night from 6 days on the road and I have
to do alot of laundry and pack. I'm only home one day in 10 and my wife is pissed. Tomorrow I'm headding over to Dublin to visit Dermot Mangen and hopefully we will sail his Spitfire F16. That is a very nice boat as well, it looks fast just sitting on the beach! I'll let you know how it goes when I get back.

Many thanks to Wouter for setting this up and to Geert for taking me along for the day, to Frank for the Pizza and beer, and all the great people I met at the Zandvoort sailing club. They have a wonderful location right on the beach, mast up and 100 yards to the water with about 100 cats all ready to go! If any of you are ever in that area you should make an attempt to get out there and see it. And Wouter, can you please get all those girls on the beach to put their tops on next time I come? How am I supposed to look at the boats?? <img src="http://www.catsailor.com/forums/images/graemlins/confused.gif" alt="" />