John Lunn C A wrote:
I doubt that there is any significant difference between the Blade and the FX One, they are both F16's, and they both fly. Now I understand why folks like Karl B in Minnesota loved their FX One....solo or two up, this boat is pure fun. Sure, it's a lot more technical, but nothing an experienced sailor could not handle.
There are huge differences, most of it in weight. The other is the controllability, the FXone mast is a tree trunk tear drop shape, the Blade actually uses a AHPC wing mast, which is essentially a thicker walled aluminum A-cat section. In short its a wet noodle, mast rotation and downhaul have a huge effect on sail shape and your ability to de-power the rig, it also requires you being careful as you can break the mast pretty easily if you stuff it and lose the main sheet. I loved the way the FXone went through the water though, LOVED. With that said my Viper outperforms it any day of the week, the Viper is faster, it can be pushed so much harder, the rig is more refined, and the controls are laid out brilliantly, (in the off chance I ever owned another FXone I'd be copying many of the Viper controls). I'm constantly impressed with it. I loved how the FXone would just knife through the water though, it loves being bow down, and the bottoms were super flat. It was a blast to sail in waves.
John Lunn C A wrote:
Wilby warned me that very few F16's are sold each year in North America....he thought around 30 to 40 of his model, and we all know how few FX One's crossed the Atlantic...
Thats probably fairly accurate as far as numbers go for F16's built or coming into North America, or at least it sounds about right. I don't know about one model though. The FXone never took hold for whatever reason, my guess was there is/was about 30 or 40 of the Hobie in the US, but that's pretty much a shot in the dark. I think what has made the F16 class so viable and popular is one up and two up racing, and the lighter weight. Although you could dump probably 15lbs out of the FXone just by swapping to a lighter mast, it'd still be comparatively heavy, but it'd be much easier to right.
John Lunn C A wrote:
Are there a NA Championships in this Class? Anyone out there sail FX One on a competitive basis? Portsmouth rating?
I raced the FXone for three seasons. One year at Hobie events where it was
really lonely, and the other two years in CRAW racing on handicap. There's never been an FXone North Americans. A few of us tried to jump start the class a few years ago, but failed miserably. NACRA's 17 is slowly dying the only place they are raced on a regular basis is Canada, Michigan and a few in Wisconsin. I think the NACRA 17 is doomed in Michigan because of the die hard NACRA fans will bail for the new model. (emphasis on I think)
John Lunn C A wrote:
When I win the lottery, an FX One is one of the boats I'll buy....maybe two: one for myself and one for our son...at least we can race each other.
Go for an F16, NACRA is supposed to be delivering one this year yet and I wouldn't be all that surprised if Hobie-Cat Europe jumped on it in a few years, especially if the Viper is selected as the next Olympic Multihull. I think there will be massive growth in the F16 class if that happens. The really good sailors with no Olympic ambitions will want to play with the best, (but may be on a Falcon, Viper, Stealth, Bimare, AquaRaptor, or a homebuild), and the good sailors will want to sail with the really good....etcetera.... The IOC is fickle though, and who knows what they will select at the last minute. I'm pretty sure I read somewhere the Viper has been selected as the IOC's youth training boat in anticipation of the Viper being selected as the mixed team multihull.
When I win the lottery I'm hiring a design firm and having a boat from scratch. I don't know what it takes dollar wise to bring a boat to the water, but I can't imagine the first one would cost much more than $100k