So far, we have 3 Taipan 4.9's planning on attending the Sarasota Labor Day Regatta next weekend. The configuration of choice appears to be TF16U (Taipan 4.9, uni rig with spinnaker). If we can get 2 more, that's a class. Anyone else out there interested?

Jennifer
Taipan 4.9 / F16HP #262

Yes. Oh, wait. I'm 3000 miles away--maybe not.

Sorry guys, couldn't make it. Out of town relatives showed up late Friday afternoon as I was taking the Taipan down to put it on the trailer, that was that. Another set arrived Saturady AM and coupled with coaching a basketball game at noon just didn't work out.

Too bad, because the weather is fair, and the winds are a'blowin' smartly.

Next time perhaps. Maybe I can make the Cat soot-out.


Jon
Taipan #217

I'm sorry you missed the regatta. We had great wind although it was very gusty and shifty at times. I sailed Taipan F16HP Sloop and was in first place after 4 races on Saturday. The winds were a little stronger on Sunday and on the 5th race we sail upwind with the jib furled and tried to sail downwind with only the jib and main. My crew was sailing with me for the first time and she had very little experience crewing plus our combined weight was only 265 lbs. A big puff hit us and over we went. We managed to right the boat but decided not to finish the race since we were a lap behind by the time we were ready to start racing again. The 6th race we sailed very conservatively with just the main around the whole course. Needless to say, we did not place very well but we did stay upright. By the 7th race, the winds had dropped a bit however my crew was ready to call it quits. I didn’t want to quit, so the compromise was she would sail the last race without complaining if she didn’t have to work the jib. So on the last race, we sailed with all the sails up with me working all the controls. The tacks and jibs were not very pretty but we managed to stay fairly competitive. We had a bit of a break after setting the spinnaker for one of the down runs as we caught a big puff and were able to ride it all the way down to the leeward mark in one shot. Quit a wild ride. We finished in 2nd place overall behind a Nacra F18.

I hope you can make it to the Wildcat Regatta in Eustis, FL on September 20 & 21st. This should be another great event.

Congratulations on the finish!

I stopped by the Bay to see how many boats were out, but the view was clouded by a zillion Prams!

The wind was really blowing here on Casey Key, and must have been 15-20 in the Bay. I really wanted to sail this one, but it was not to be. I have just learned that I won't be able to make the Lake Eustis regatta either. More schedule conflicts. Now I'm shooting for the Taipan Nationals if I can convince my 12 yr old son to crew. He's 5'10" and already 155# so we will be very heavy! (I'm 195#).

How many cats were there? Nacras, Hobies, etc? Any pictures posted?

Jon Hamlet
Taipan #217

The results for the regatta have been posted on the Sarasota Sailing Squadron website

The results page lists the rankings but not the boats. I am not familiar with Tony Vandenoeve who soundly kicked the open fleet. What boat does he sail? Congrats to him on with his telling consistancy!

David

Here is what I can remember for the boat that were sailing portmouth:

1 Nacra F18
2 Taipan F16
3 Hobie 16
4 Nacra 6.0NA
5 Nacra 5.5 Sloop
6 ???
7 Nacra 5.5 Uni + Spinnaker
8 ???
9 Nacra 5.0

Jennifer

Bump.

Had to get that other post off the top.