Blimey, thats an essay and a half.

Scooby Simon will be please you had a go on one, I'm sure he'll be along soon to convince you to buy one!!

Having sailed a Hurricane 59 for 10 years, I can understand most of your comments….

I just watch the mainsail tell tails and the cassette tape.  No Jib means you have to concentrate much more on what the mainsail tell tails are saying.  You have to play the mainsail a LOT more than the hurricane to get the best out of the boat.

Remember (I assume) you are only pulling with one hand while holding the mainsheet and tiller when on the wire.  It’s a more difficult job than on the hurricane as the boat is less stable.  I’ve got a 12:1 multi purchase and it works fine for me so I can get the bottom of the sail to almost touch the boom at the mast. 

Also, remember with no jib and a much more powerful boat upwind (nearly ½ the weight, ½ the crew and about 65% of the sail of the hurricane (15sqm vs 23.5sqm)) you will have to work harder.  You need to downhaul harder and earlier, you need to de-rotate the mast earlier and travel the main earlier.

It does feel VERY different, but I found the whole setup better than the Hurricane one, maybe the rubbers were worn?   

Madness, get a second set added PDQ!, I have a second set of blocks and mine is find to hold with one hand for ages.

Must ne the owners choice, mine are in the “right” place as per your choice.

I dump the traveller as well when windy / gusty as the boat the tracks better during the drops.

The carbon masts are almost bullet proof and the newer ones, John says they can take all sorts of abuse.

T foils have got me out of all sorts of problems in the past.  I’ve had the bottom battens of the mainsail in the back of a wave before with no problems. 

Yes, this does happen, move forward a little more and this might cure it.  But remember the underside of the boat is flat (it will plane in the right conditions) and so it’s not as quiet as the 5.9 uphill.

Glad you enjoyed it, get another go in more sensible conditions, get on the wire with the kite up(anything over 10kts) and it’s a dream. 

You know you want one…….

time for another ex 5.9 sailor to come out !

I sailed 5.9's for about 10 yrs had 3 off them 171, 413 ,455 , guess how many tiller pins I've snapped ??? loads and you get zilch warning ,

Was sceptical myself when I got my stealth (ran outa crews for two man cats ) about the uj's on tiller bar , but they work a treat , even show signs of failure as when used on tiller extensions and plenty opportunity to change before failure and I fitted new ones with safety retaining cords moulded in when it came time to change .

other advantage is you can fall like a haddock on your tiller bar whilst stumblin about on wavey tacks without bending it , shock taken by the rubber and carbon doesn't take a bend  , after two seasons I checked my rudder alignement and still spot on , 5.9 you had to check an  resett regularily .

Downhauls can be easily upgraded as a 5.9 sailor they were changed twice in my time , used to take two to pull it on with an ole stiff mast .

I loved my 5.9s and think they are great boats and would recommend to anyone wanting a blast two up without selling a kidney  , but if you have to go solo and want a shade of fun a stealth is a good place to be .

after sailing the 5.9sx i had to sail with a kite , not least being xxl In need of a bit more hp to get downhill .

bit of planning before dropping the chute makes it easy   and unless too windy can even be done rounding marks with your third hand

Thanks for feedback. I have no current intention of moving on from a 5.9SX. However, the appeal of a SH with kite is obvious.  I have an arrangement with the boat's owners that the next time my crew cannot sail and the wind isn't too great (they have an all-up weight of 17/18 stones so they're not going to sail a H59 in 20kts) we'll swap and they can take my Hurri. As it's not my boat the mods I can do are limited and will have to be quick and reversable. The trapese adjustment on my Hurri is as per a Tiger (those that I have seen), ie 2:1 and elasticated. If I could put that on the Stealth and get the tiller stiffened (the rubber UJ's I can live with) then things will be OK.

Scooby, where do you mount your second set of spinnaker blocks? The auto-ratchets are at the ends of the main beam.

And what about the boards? Apparently JP says its alright to leave them down at all times but I felt they were tripping the boat a bit downhill.

Dave,

I have 2 ratchamatics on each hull and run the Spi thru both of them:

180 defree turn thru the aft one, then about 150deg thru the forward one and then to hand.  I've taken the springs off since this picture was taken.

As for plates, I leave mine fully down to about 12 kts and then bring them up a little as the wind goes up.  But I do have monster long plates!!!

Dave

A lot has changed on my boat setup since that picture was taken!

I need to take some more pics, but will not be at the club for a couple of weeks as I am off to throw myself down mountains at great speed with planks on my feet.

yes, in that pic, red is Spi halyard.  mast spanner setup has changed as well, as I now have a setup similar to the Shadow for fine tune and a setup to allow me to let it all off for downwind.

My boat is optimised for single handing.

OK, with Neil struck down with gut rot I needed a single hander for Sunday and sweet-talked Pete and Dee into sailing my Hurricane while I took the Stealth.

I jury rigged extra blocks for the spinni sheets and stiffened the tiller with a garden stake from B&Q. I taped up one set of trapese lines and adjusted the other to keep me at the right height to the boat. Spanner adjustment and downhaul were still useless but I figured I'd manage.

As I launched a huge squall blew through and racing was postponed while I blasted back and forth. The wind then died almost completely for a race in a drifter and then got back up to a decent F3-4 as I crossed the finished. So I then went for a blast.

Like it, like it a lot! Like most lightwight boats you have to be on the wire to get the beast working properly. But once the kite was up and me on the wire the Stealth was fast and controllable. I didn't need to be too far aft to keep the nose out either.

The only negative thing was that having lead the race for the first two marks (5 kts/F1) which were downwind, I then got mullered upwind. Partly because I was down to just the one sail so my power to weight ratio was not so good, and also because I suspect the the flat hull profile makes it a bit sticky in the really light stuff.

But yes, if I had to sail alone, I can't think of a better cat for the job. However, I'm happy enough with my Hurri for the time being.

Dave

Try a Shadow before you buy!