Now, there's a real positive. : )

If you have a little one, it gives them something to hang onto. Also good for storage. Lots of positives, none of them competitive.

It will be interesting to see just how slow I have made it. : )

I think they look WEAK. Here's my daydream...

Conditions are getting good and you're trapped out off the wing. You ride over a larger wave and the bows come slamming down on the far side. The impact and your body weight breaks off the wing! You swing in toward the boat, impale yourself on the broken stump of the wing, and the boat capsizes. Evecerated is the term. You and your boat are found several hours later, capsized with your impaled and bloodless body is draped over the high side, skewered on the stump of a wing.

Just my daydream....no wings for me. There is no better feeling than the same story above while hanging from a wire in a comfortable harness.

Seriously guys, its too late for discouraging post. IF you have NOTHING positive to say aobut his project how about NO posts at all.

He is already into it, and has clearly stated there are NO F16's to sail competitively so he wants something different.

Robi, I think some people are just worried about his safety. <img src="http://www.catsailor.com/forums/images/graemlins/tongue.gif" alt="" /> I, too, think those wings look pretty flimsy.

Hey Robi, I WAS being discouraging for the reason Mary said. I saw a real potential for injury that nobody had mentioned.

He has to define how he expects to sail. If the wings are for kids or wife to sleep or make sandwiches or whatever, fine. If you are a CAT sailor, then you're looking for big air and that REQUIRES being on the wire. You'll trap from the wings if you have them so...there you go. Dream your own nightmare image if it breaks. Look at the photo and tell me you would stand on that rig. Now tell me you would JUMP up and down on it. Now tell me you would wave jump a 6 foot swell while toe-hooked on the edge in 15+ knots. There is no way you'd risk it.

If you're a cucumber sandwich and iced-tea kind of sailor, buy a Hobie Getaway. They have wings AND a cooler.

Have fun.

They don't look all that strong to me either. If I was doing this I'd consider running an extra wire from the hounds to the centre of the outer rail to take some of the load off the wing.
Regards,
Phill

Simon,

Can you elaborate on this: "They wont gain you anything upwind as the weight/drag is cancelled out by drag etc".

Is the single advantage of wings on a cat with regular sail area only to keep it up in high winds?

You should write for B grade horror. : ) In that script least I would have died doing what I love.
My fantasy has you working hard and brilliantly from the back of the pack in wild weather after someone illegally destroys your start set up. It is the nationals and if you win you will go to the Worlds. Stunning skill and tactics see you take the race on the line to the cheers of eveyone you ever wanted to impress!
Then you wake up and realise it's back to the middle of the pack. : )

Hey, a grown up. thanks Robi, I am not here to p**s on anyones parade. You have the equipment I am mucking with and I genuinely have no one here to discuss it with. If the boat turns out to be weak, slow or or just plain silly I will post those results. My ego can handle that. You can say "told you so..." This is informations for the group (cat sailors) and that makes everyone faster.

**** of the Bay". He builds wings for 12 and 14 skiffs. I had to decide..safety or performance... I chose a little more on the edge because that is what the boat demanded. They do look like a recipe for carnage, but... No pain, no pain, right?

low self-esteem and big ego often leads to bla bla bla.
As Robi has said, I am invested in the idea if right or wrong. I am looking for helpful adult conversation and not wanting to provide a place for the nets version of road rage.

"The wings won't make you go any faster" line is a load of ... (assuming you plan to trap off them Hobie 17 style). They'll increase your righting moment and as a result your power and/or efficieny in stronger winds. Testing the strength isn't hard either. Get a couple of mates to sit on the other hull and test them on the shore. Because the water will allow some "give" you'll never put as big a load on them on the water as you can trapping and jumping on them on land.

If you decide you do want to add a kite let me know as I might be able to do you a deal on our old one.

Having said all that I really wish you'd gone F18, we're just busting for a good excuse for a road trip and would have brought our boats down from Auckland a couple of times a season to race you.

Keep in touch.

That is an intersting concept. Of course more wire is a pain but I will keep it in mind. What I am worried about is wracking fore and aft but I have hung off it and banged up and down on it on the trailer and have to imagine that water would give a little more cushioning. It lifts the boat and the trailer easily. But as has been mentioned it is the extreem crash that I do not predict that will bite me in the...
Also, I thought I could take a little licence aas it is a strickly one man wing..so..the hobie 17 has a 350lb limit...I am 170...

Robi. I am stilling getting the hang of the site and have made a reply in your box for someone else. No offence.

Until you drive the hulls under.

In light to medium air single handing will be a hoot! Did it a lot on a H-18 Magnum.

Funny the folks that say they look weak. 12mm dyneema looks week, yes it breaking point is around 2000bls aint it? (just an example)

Lets not judge a book by its cover.

I myself, cant wait to see the finished product and some nice high res images. It will be interesting to see a T4.9 with wings in big air. I am sure the show of splash will be spectacular.

Even when you drive the hulls under you will not stop instantly and even if you did you'd be sliding across the wing, not into it.

Clearly. wings are not new, just reviled in some circles. If they were genericly unsafe they would be gone. My worry is that I have done something that will fail because of the type of boat I am using. One of the deciding factors to go ahead was that I have often read the Taipan, while light it is a tough platform. Actually my main worry is the section where I am bolting on and that was one of the main reasons I posted here. To see if anyone had had major worries in that area of the boat.
What I have so far is.
Genoa might not create xtra speed because of backwinding main.
Construction possibly light and dangerous.
Genny probably faster option.
Possible wire to mast section.
A class carbon mast may not take weights... but I have Garys fix it for that.

Thanks