It is a box rule for a 16 4 inch foot cat;

5m long 2.5 m wide

Weight 104 kg single handed sloop+kite, 107 2 up cat rig plus kite

8.5m mast

As far as I know nothing is banned except

hard sails

It is as close as you can get to a CHerub on two hulls!

Literally a box rule boat  - the weights Simon was talking about are all-up sailing weight not hull only, about 18m2 white sails and 17.5m2 kite.  Have a look at the orange cat photo I posted on the Favourite Photos thread...

http://www.geocities.com/f16hpclass/ - http://www.geocities.com/f16hpclass/

John Pierce builds Stealth F16s in the UK.  Very attractively priced boats...  AIUI plans are available for the Blade F16 to do a home build.

The F16 could be a major part of the future of catamaran sailing worldwide. Where the F18 class has already taken off in a big way with the involvement of major manufacturers and some independents, the F16 at present is exclusively the preserve of the enthusiast and the small independent builder.

The F16 is much more than a scaled down F18 though, it's power to weight ratio is much better and it is a much more open formula as mentioned above. As a result innovation is welcomed, in fact positively encouraged. The boats are theoretically on a par with F18's on a boat-for-boat basis and many have demonstrated that they can be faster!

F16's are, without exception, very rewarding to sail. They are light and responsive and the slightest adjustment to the rig can be felt straightaway. They can be dead and slow one moment and then with a pull on the downhaul or a tweak of mast rotation the boat will spring into life and let you know that it's set correctly. In this respect I haven't had so much fun from a boat in over 30years of sailing. It's a tweakers joy!

To describe it as the Cherub of the cat world is close to the mark BUT for me its major selling point is the ability to sail the same boat two up or solo by simply removing the jib and then sailing to the same handicap! I sail my Stealth in both configurations and there is no noticeable speed difference other than manouevres are quicker two-up (more pairs of hands ).

Downwind with a kite solo is an absolute blast!  And yes, I have been out solo in a F5-6 with no real problem  (I only weigh 65Kg) and when I did capsize, I was able to right the boat on my own and continue racing. There aren't many cats other than A-class that you can do that with! So now when I race I can push really hard, knowing that if I/we capsize it won't be a problem, we'll be back up and racing again in moments. Just like being back in my dinghy days!

I think F16s are great - I'm having a ball!

They sound like just the sort of cat that is needed. The single/double options sound good.

do they race single and double handed at the nationals are they realy the same speed?

there might be room to optimise hull volumes for the lower weight of single handed config

Yes, we/they really do race boat-for-boat in either configuration.

Why optimise the hull volume for single handing?

You would take away the flexibility of sailing in either configuration that is one of the most attractive things about the class!

You said it Granite.....

Plus, of course, you narrow the number of potential punters when you come to sell the boat.

There is apparantly a man in Aus who bought an A-class and cut 18" out of the hulls to make himself a be-spoke F16 so that he could add the kite and have some serious fun...

With the Taipan 4.9s in F16 guise at Changi SC we see no difference in performance other than the ability of the helms...

Yes, he did, it's called "altered" and here is a piccie or 2:

Originally posted by HannahJ I'd love to see the rest of tha tsequence... did it pitchpole?

Nope; I believed he did a little more ploughing and then it popped out.

do you have the T rudders on Altered?

if so how big? and do you think they help control the pitch attitude of the boat?

My new boat will have T foils; just need to sell the old boat first.

Reason for going for the Custom build was

1, partly that John has an A class mould sitting around we can use,

2 as it was always going to be a bit of a monster -(Sort of designed the size of rig I wanted and then chose the platform) I decided that I wanted to go to 18 foot.

3,  John and I spent hours on the phone / web playing with ideas and after wandering all over the place (from a 10 foot wide F18Ht to be sailed single handed) to a F16 hull with a A class rig on it we ended up with going for A class hulls, 8 foot 2 wide, slightly bigger mainsail and a kite.

Now will someone please buy my inter 17 so I can get this thing built....

T foil rudders are standard on the Stealth F16 and I don't really know whether they make a difference as I've not sailed the boat with any other rudders.

However, what I will say is that despite being out in a good few strong winds, we have yet to bury the bows at all to any great extent. We have capsized (loads of times) but they have all been pure 'overpowered with kite up'. (We seem to keep getting caught with our boards down) 

Hi

In my humble opinion F16 look great and seem to really shift.

If you sail 1or2 up or are a 'tweaker' great.

I wonder does F18 suffer a bit by having to have the latest design, are the older boats devalued by this?  Would this put off a potential F16 owner if this became the case with these cats?

Lots of questions I know!

In the end and because I sail with 'she who must be obeyed' we went for the Spitfire.

Hope you are having as much fun as us!

I don't have T foils but I've borrowed a pair from a friend who has made a pair for his boat.  They do make a difference in a F4+.  You can push the boat much harder and the bows just sit there.