Greetings F16 sailors (lightweights <img src="http://www.catsailor.com/forums/images/graemlins/smile.gif" alt="" /> )

I am Gary Friesen in Los Angeles, California, USA. I have a Stealth. (I'm far from being light in weight)

Can somebody please give me an estimate of how many Stealth owners post upon this forum?

Is there an internet place where sailors of Stealths congregate to share ideas and knowledge?

May I provide a measurement or opinion about my Stealth for you?

Thank you, F16 sailors for all of your informative posts over the years!

GARY

I dont know about the rest of your questions Gary, but I would sure like to hear your opinions on the Stealth and the F16 concept/platform.

Are you going to use the boat in the samme manner as with Whisk? If you do, I sure am interested in hearing how the boat compares. I suppose either you grow on the boat, or the boat will grow on you <img src="http://www.catsailor.com/forums/images/graemlins/wink.gif" alt="" />

Who is the next from the old mailing list to go F16?

Congratulations on the new boat Gary!

Gary,
Congrats on getting you hands on an F16 Stealth .

Scooby_Simon, MarkP, Jalani and the designer and builder John_Pierce frequent this forum and would be able to help with questions.
I expect they will also be able to put you in contact with other Stealth sailors who pass this way.

Hope you enjoy the boat.

Regards,
Phill
BTW:- you won't here from MarkP and Jalani for a few days because they are at the Carnac Regatta in France with some of the other UK and European F16 sailors.

I sail one in bonny scotland a hybrid f18ht /f16 singlehander I call a Stealth SXL - for fat gitz !!! I'm 118kgs
Just inspired a fellow club sailor to buy a 16 .

a stealth chat site would be good .
Sexiest boats around with all the loverly carbon and curves <img src="http://www.catsailor.com/forums/images/graemlins/smile.gif" alt="" />

You could set one up right here, like the Mossie's have. But I'm sure no one minds you talking Stealth here on the F16 forum. We have plenty of Blade-specific discussion.

Thank you everyone for the Welcome. The only reason I asked if there was a Stealth specific site was that I couldn't believe how little (Stealth specific) information was available here.

Good to be back on a common board with you again Rolf!

I won't be able to do what I did with Whisk because of fragility issues and Buoyancy issues. We carried six or seven hundred pounds of cargo and crew when visiting Santa Cruz and Santa Rosa Islands. Needed to have a motor. We also got tangled in very large kelp beds at times.

Catalina Island is a possibility however. I can sail there without having to load the boat up as severely. Time and testing will tell. I have my eyes on a trip in late June. Till then, I'll be sailing her in the Santa Monica Bay (West side of Los Angeles) and an occasional outing in San Pedro Bay. (South side of L.A.)

I'll give you my impressions of the F16 and the Stealth now, but obviously the opinions are in their infancy and will continue to develop.

Thanks for the report Phill. I'll wait to hear from the guys you mention. Sounds like there may only be about 5 Stealth owners visiting this forum.

Codblow (Cod? Mr. Blow?) I'd love to hear more about the Stealth SXL. May be just what I need. It is going to be a real shock moving from the dry buoyant Mystere 6.0 hulls to this veritable pair of torpedoes.

My initial impressions of the F16 and the Stealth:
I first sailed on John's Blade in Long Beach. Since he had not planed for me, he was not sloop rigged. We had just enough wind to sail single trapezed upwind. I was amazed at the behavior of the hulls in the water. (As many might do, comparing to memories of a Hobie 16!) Was very pleased to see that the boat could actually handle the weight of two men. More than pleased that the mainsail alone gave us lots of power.

Downwind was a wet ride! The ease of use of the spinnaker was a pleasant treat. The helm responsiveness was fantastic. The build quality and the way the boat is outfitted gave me instant admiration for the VWM Blade. A very beautiful machine!

It was my first time under a wing mast and I found the trimming process to be intuitive and natural.

Stealth:
There is no way around the fact that the rudders are going to be a challenge in the ocean where eel grass and kelp can be found; will be and have been found!

When I test sailed this boat, I was amazed at how the hulls handled the weight of two men. This boat just does not mind having weight on it. The hulls are fast even if heavily loaded.

Learning / testing is progressing very slowly as I have had a lot of various obstacles. I have finally had her out in the ocean.
I'm going to quote myself from a note I sent to a friend here.



These hulls pierce so well that they look like torpedoes to me when they occasionally go under. Very fitting that the designer's name is Pierce.

It seems that there are very many folks out there intrigued with the concept of winged rudders. Kudos to JP and SG for actually bringing them to market on a production catamaran. What's even better is that they are available at a very reasonable cost so that should give anyone who wants to experiment with such a system the opportunity to get quality parts to do it with.

I would encourage people to do just that. The rudders are beautiful and light. I'm sure that if you showed up with a pair in your neighborhood, that you'd have people lined up waiting to buy them from you when your done testing. A short note to John Pierce was returned with pricing information.

Also, for all of those folks drooling all over themselves when they see a carbon mast: Stealth Marine offers their masts for a VERY competitive price.

What I don't like about the Stealth is the inability to sit at the gunnel. The top of the hull is about as far out as you dare go or else you roll backward off of the boat. I did just that on my first solo sail. <img src="http://www.catsailor.com/forums/images/graemlins/blush.gif" alt="" /> Righting the boat was child's play.

Another pet peave is the way that the steering cross bar has no torsional rigidity and this disallows you from using a twist lock tiller extension. I already miss my cork ball handle and am already seeing signs of Carpal Tunnel Syndrome in from handling the 9' long tiller handle. I think that I'll put a few balls on the stick; that may help.

GARY

Gary,

Ask away, what do you want to know?

Do you notice very much difference in weather helm when changing from sloop to unirig modes?

What position on the hull, fore aft, do you prefer when sailing upwind, downwind, and on a beam reach? Does it change a noticeable amount when switching from uni to sloop modes?

What means of fastening a foot-strap do you suggest?

What locations are suggested for foot-straps?

What kind of under-foot traction tape do you use on your hulls? (type, style, locations, etc.)

What is the easiest way to clear weeds from the rudders while underway?

Where is the best place to lead the descending main halyard?

Thanks.

GARY

Do you notice very much difference in weather helm when changing from sloop to unirig modes?

[color:"blue"] Not sailed Sloop yet, but I'd expect a little as the COE of the "white sails" has moved forward a little [/color]

What position on the hull, fore aft, do you prefer when sailing upwind, downwind, and on a beam reach? Does it change a noticeable amount when switching from uni to sloop modes?

[color:"blue"]

Upwind - about 2 inches of bow in the water
reaching - same, until too much wind and then just hang on!
downwind - as reaching [/color]

What means of fastening a foot-strap do you suggest?

[color:"blue"] Check with John P to see if your boat has acetal plates bonded to the top of the inside of the hull; if so then just drill and tap in
If not, don't put any thru the hull [/color]

What locations are suggested for foot-straps?

[color:"blue"] I have one just behind the back beam [/color]

What kind of under-foot traction tape do you use on your hulls? (type, style, locations, etc.)

[color:"blue"] I used Gelcoat. Clean hulls; mix gelcoat, then use a sponge to "stipple" the areas you want grip. I used a tube of gelcoat that when mixed with hardner but yet to go off has the consisitancy of whipped cream - ideal for this [/color]

What is the easiest way to clear weeds from the rudders while underway?

[color:"blue"] sail around them! I've found it tends to clear by it's self - it's a real pain to do it so I really try and avoid it [/color]

Where is the best place to lead the descending main halyard?

[color:"blue"] I have a velcro strap across the fron of the tramp right by the gap in the front beam that I clamp it into before I put it in the tramp bag. [/color]

Thanks.

GARY

Now I am aware of 6 Stealth owners:

scooby_simon (Simon)
waynemarlow
MarkP
Jalani
John_Pierce (John)
hobiegary (Gary)

I wonder how many Stealths there are, total?

Has anybody heard of any other Stealths in the USA?

GARY

Didnt know PTP Patrick was a Stealth owner. I think he owns an AC Blade.

Thanks Robi. I've adjusted my posting so as not to accuse him of sailing a Stealth.

GARY

Gary,

There are no other Stealths in the USA. There is a huge collection of them at Datchet, a reservoir just outside of London, and scattered throughout the UK. I believe there are just a few on the European continent. I visited Datchet (http://www.dwsc.co.uk/) last time I was in London and found it to be quite a friendly bunch. The neat thing was being able to see all the different iterations of the Stealth over the last several years. I should really dig out the photos for you. John Pierce is quite innovative and his designs seem to be ahead of there time in many respects.

Gary,

Here's some more Stealth guys on the forum...

David Tugwell (davidtugwell)--Datchet

Marc Presdee (MarkP)--Mumbles

George Malloch (George_Malloch)--Scotland

Paul Warren--Datchet--used to own a Stealth and Blade but may have sold the Stealth now. Paul is the administrator for the class's web site.

Hi Stealthygary, <img src="http://www.catsailor.com/forums/images/graemlins/smile.gif" alt="" />

Welcome to F16! I have the sister boat to yours, GBR527. I think your questions have, so far, been answered but if you have any that particularly relate to our 2 boats, just ask away!

Beautiful photograph John! Thank you for telling me about our brotherhood in that our boats are sisters. I look forward to sharing details.

I have questions about foot placement, where to mount foot straps for example.

Your photograph addresses this foot placement question. It appears that on a downwind reach, the crew is close to straddling the shroud while the helmsman is about half-way between the rear cross-bar and the shroud.

Feel free to correct or refine my view of those positions but, I see that the crew of two are farther forward than we would expect to be situated on a downwind run on a heretofore typical 16-foot beachcat. (Pardon my English?) (and, excuse my metrics!)

Another question: Have you messed about with the mast "rake?" What rigging do you have at the junction of the forestay and the bridle wires?

One big difference that I see between our boats is that I have a sub-tramp snuffer bag and yours has a mid-pole snuffer system.

I have yet to drive this boat very hard. I get the impression that it is going to be an entirely new experience to do so.

I like the unusual feel of owning a "one of a kind catamaran" in this entire country. The only Stealth in the entire New World???

GARY

The footstraps on my Stealth are in the knuckle behind the rear beam, I'll find you a photo. What you can't see from this picture is that just out of shot to the right is a Dart 18 that we are about to overtake and we are being taken high by him so we have sheeted in and pointed up to a beam reach. To keep the boat trimmed we have moved forward. Usually Anne would be standing where I am and I would be further back. We have found that interlocking our foot positions allows maximum stability of the crew.



I don't know about 'messing about' with the rake but I have raked the mast quite a long way back! - I found that my new kite generated too much lee helm so needed more power in the main to counter it. Interestingly, it hasn't unbalanced the boat upwind.

The rigging below the bridlewires consists of a compression strut down to the pole to deal with the luff loads generated by the jib, a pair of stabilising wires from the bottom of the strut/pole junction out to the bow tangs and a pair of wires from the pole tip to the bow tangs.



My boat originally had the tramp bag. This was replaced by a mid pole system as it is a better system.



These boats are thoroughbreds! The F16 handles much better when pushed hard, the foils need high rates of flow to grip and generate lift. You'd be surprised at how strong these 'lightweights' are!



I suspect you do have exactly that but should the exchange rate improve, I believe that more US sailors might be tempted to try Stealth ownership for themselves. The latest iterations of the boat are beautifully put together and very, very quick!

Footstrap position. These old straps have been replaced by Dakine fully adjustable windsurfing straps in exactly the same position.

Hi

For my stealth the foot traps were the following,

but I would send an email to john pierce to check for your one.



rear bolt 160mm to transom, 50mm to centre line of deck front bolt 20mm to rear beam 70mm to centre line of deck

I usually tap an M6 hole and use M6 bolts to fit them, however if you don't have an m6 tap you can use self tapping screws.




Bye

Hi Gary, I would like to add myself to the list... I think I'm the only Stealth owner in South West UK???