Hi all,

the big event is on at the Sauna Sail, Latrobe Valley Y.C. Hazelwood Pondage near Morwell. Queens Birthday weekend 9-11 June. Thats right it's only 4 weeks away <img src="http://www.catsailor.com/forums/images/graemlins/shocked.gif" alt="" />, quick start getting organised, it's always a fun weekend, campfires warm water etc. <img src="http://www.catsailor.com/forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif" alt="" />.

Sauna Sail details here http://www.lvyc.org.au/
make sure you enter as whatever class of Cat with Kite as we should get a Cat with Kite fleet again like last year, F16 results will just be taken from amongst eligible boats all under 5m. Prizes for F16 1st. 2nd. 3rd., 1st. Mossie, 1st. Taipan and any other class that lets me know they are coming.

The event is wide open this year with last years winner "Mackatack" unable to attend and "Altered" gone to a new owner. I will hopefully be on a new but untuned Blade <img src="http://www.catsailor.com/forums/images/graemlins/confused.gif" alt="" />. There has been some interest from interstate with Canberra and S.A. F16 intending to come, so it should be big, get the thermals out <img src="http://www.catsailor.com/forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif" alt="" />. Hope to see you there. <img src="http://www.catsailor.com/forums/images/graemlins/tongue.gif" alt="" />

sorry..
too old ..
too fat ...
too slow ....
too far to drive.....
<img src="http://www.catsailor.com/forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif" alt="" />

wOw Gary,

New Blade! <img src="http://www.catsailor.com/forums/images/graemlins/cool.gif" alt="" /> Have you got it yet, if not when are you expecting it?

Might be untuned at the beginning of the weekend but I bet you'll have her hummin' by the end of the weekend. <img src="http://www.catsailor.com/forums/images/graemlins/wink.gif" alt="" />

Be worth going to Hazelwood just for a sticky at your new boat. Have to see what I can do. <img src="http://www.catsailor.com/forums/images/graemlins/tongue.gif" alt="" />

Hi Col,

see thread on First Production F16 In OZ.

No it is not in the water yet but here is hoping, it should certainly be worth a look at <img src="http://www.catsailor.com/forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif" alt="" />.

Only 2 weeks to go. <img src="http://www.catsailor.com/forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif" alt="" />

Is the new boat ready yet?

Hi Nick,

no it is not ready yet, but there is a outside chance it may get there <img src="http://www.catsailor.com/forums/images/graemlins/tongue.gif" alt="" />. But I will be sailing regardless thanks to the kind offer from one of Mossie guy's <img src="http://www.catsailor.com/forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif" alt="" />. With spinnaker of course <img src="http://www.catsailor.com/forums/images/graemlins/cool.gif" alt="" />.

Hi all,

just got email from "Altered" new owner, he is intending to come. Along with at least 5 or 6 Mossies and Taipans in equal numbers, things are looking good <img src="http://www.catsailor.com/forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif" alt="" />.

Forecast is looking fine also <img src="http://www.catsailor.com/forums/images/graemlins/cool.gif" alt="" />.

Hi all,

it's been run and won. 8 F16 in all, 4 Cat rigged & 1 Sloop Mosquito, 1 Cat & 1 Sloop Cobra and 1 Sloop Taipan.

1st. Taipan "Tasi Oki" Gordon & Jenny, Placings 1,1,2,2,1.
2nd. Mosquito "Imunity" Gary M, 3,2,3,1,2.
3rd. Mosquito "Karma Cat" Tim S. 2,3,1,DNS,3.
4th. Mosquito Philip W/S "More Splashes" 4,4,5,DNS,4.
5th. Mosquito Bill P "Fat Bommer" 5,7,6,3,6.
6th. Mosquito Gordon H DNS,6,4,DNF,5
7th. Cobra Wesley M "Scream" DNS,5,7,DNF,DNS.
8th. Cobra DNS,DNS,DNS,DNS,DNS.

As allways at the Sauna Sail, winds where testing at times. But thae final race was sailed in up to 20kts. leaving most with smiles. <img src="http://www.catsailor.com/forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif" alt="" /> Most interesting was the F16 placings in the 25 boat mixed fleet of Tornado's, F18's, Taipans and Hobies.
Full Results HERE. www.lvyc.org.au/results/2007/events/saunasail/series.htm

Suffice to say the front F16 often mixed it at the front of the fleet and many times F16's where seen to pass Tornado's and F18's, sometimes more than once in the same leg of the course <img src="http://www.catsailor.com/forums/images/graemlins/shocked.gif" alt="" />

Question I have asked before, and will ask again. Why are the Mosquitoes being considered as F16s when there is a large difference in their VYC handicaps to an actual F16 handicap? 71 to 79.5 is a big difference. I note that in the results above you have adjusted for placings over the line and that the Taipan didn't win every race. But your description of the wind conditions probably explains this. However, we aren't really comparing too like boats in a formula class. For me it detracts from the F16 concept. Just my 2 cents.

Hopefully I'm not stomping to someones toes but probably because it fits into rules. The design might not contain latest development and thus in open class probably would have different handicaps but under formula rules they can be scored to class. Similar differences would even happen in OD (newer sails and stuff) so I don't think that it's that unfair.

It really would be unfair to say to certain group of sailors that we are not going to include you because you have this type boat even though you fit into rules.

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Valtteri

Mosquitos don't fit in the F16 rules, they are too light and hence are "grandfathered". This can be changed by the F16 association if the mosquitos become too dominant.

So Mozzys can race with the F16s as long as they dont win or the rule will be changed?
Maybe I misinterpreted what you said and you are talking fleet numbers but 5 Mozzys out of a total of 8 F16s would also be considered dominant.
Why are F16s so heavy anyway?

Darryn
Mosquito
1782

Because we do doublehanded racing as a sloop with spi too !

And at a larger platform dimensions as well, the stiffness has to come from somewhere !

Wouter

The Mozzies aren't being considered real optimized F16s, just grandfathered F16s. They are being included because if they weren't, there wouldn't be an F16 class in Australia (or South Africa either). As you can see from the results, it wouldn't have been much of a race without them.

Until recently the Mosquitos and an occasional Taipan 4.9 were the only F16s in Aus. Then Gary built "Altered" and a few more Taipan4.9s started using spinnakers. Now the Cobras have joined in as well (with a handicap slower still than the Mozzies, if you're worried about the handicap).

In Australia we still don't have anyone manufacturing F16s (although two builders say they are "close"). That's what's really detracting from the F16 concept here.

(Quote)
“They are being included because if they weren't, there wouldn't be an F16 class in Australia (or South Africa either)”

I wouldn’t quite put it that way, instead I would say that the F16 is an exciting “concept” and the fact that, in Australia the concept has been adopted so readily by a group of Mosquitoes sailers and now the Cobras as well illustrates this as they are the classes that could “convert” their cats the most readily. The Mosquito and Cobra owners already own their cats and obviously really like them (and their respective classes) so why should they forsake them and all buy new fully compliant F16’s when with the least amount of outlay they can “upgrade” them to be able be a part of this F16 concept/family as well as being class legal in their own right by just removing the minimum amount of gear from their cats? Don’t worry; the advent of many more F16’s in Australia is only a matter of a few short months away. In South Australia alone, over this winter there is a minimum of four (maybe more) fully compliant F16’s (production Blades and Taipans) being readied/built for the next summer sailing season and together with the three or four that sailed last season will greatly boost the overall numbers here. There are new production F16 Blades being built as we speak with the first only a whisker away from sailing completion and the second well under way. So although the actual number of F16’s sailing (particularly fully compliant F16’s) has been a little slow in becoming apparent, that is definitely changing and the momentum is now growing and will be obvious to all sailers in the very near future. One of the main reasons (as I see it) that the advent of F16 numbers on the water has been slow to gather momentum is that virtually all of the sailers coming into F16 are experienced sailer who are coming from owning other cats and very few people who are already sailing within a class will just drop their allegiance to that class and hop into an entirely different class without thinking about it for some time. That time delay is now starting to happen and the transition seems to be well under way.
(although it's still nice to occasionally kick an F16's butt with an Alpha F14!!)

Sorry, forgot totally about the Mozzies weight and it's grandfathered status.

Anyway I still think that inlcuding Mozzies is good thing because there are lot of Mozzies at F16 regattas (at least scored to F16 class). I would be very happy to have a fleet of grandfathered boats to race with here in Finland, assuming that they would want to race with me <img src="http://www.catsailor.com/forums/images/graemlins/wink.gif" alt="" />.

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Valtteri

I don't think the mozzies will lose their grandfathered F16 status, atleast not in the short term, unless they make a big change to their class rules.

The F16's may get a run for their money at the moment by the top mozzies, but mozzies are relatively one design now and so their performance will stay close to what it is currently (it may pick up a bit with some more kite development). The F16 concept and the current designs still have a fair bit of development and maturing to go yet, it's performance will improve over time.

The crossover to F16 would be easy (as it should be!!) and fairly cheap except for the beam. Is there a minimum on the beam width?

Cutting a smaller jib would not be a difficult, is the self tacker a requirement or an option for the class? Thanks....<img src="http://www.catsailor.com/forums/images/graemlins/cool.gif" alt="" />

No minimum beam.

Self tacker is optional.