[quote=martin_langhoff]Hi Damon,
Mast is... 9.5m / 31f. The mast has a captive ball, similar to a Hobie Getaway. When the mast is down, it "slots in" with the mast rotated 90deg. There's no hold-it-in-place mechanism (as seen on the H16 vid), I hold it down manually. Once you get the mast up ~30deg it stops wanting to snap out, and it can rotate to its normal position.
The manual explains the process clearly, but not "efficiently", it shows 4 people around the boat in a picture. Not surprisingly, with 4 I can get the mast up just fine, but I can't always corral such a crowd, and that H16 guy did it solo, ffs :-)
You're right I haven't sailed a modern high performance boat like a 470.
I have sailed a Dart 16 on the wire, singlehanded (for some reason, I end up sailing lots of UK designed boats :-) ), to the point I bought my own trapeze harness. I have no problem with the transition from sitting on the trampoline to being on the wire. Overall power/weight ratio however aren't all that exciting on the Dart 16 without a spinnaker (that's how I sailed it).
Of course this boat has a learning curve for me. That's why I'm posting here :-) and that's half of the fun anyway. Crew has very limited experience on these kind of boats.
On the upside...Biscayne Bay is mellow and forgiving, I know it inside out (tilled it on Hobie Getaways, dinghies and on a 41ft keeler), and my crew are crazy enough to sail with me. If I stay with what I know, how will I learn something new and exciting?
Cheers! ~martin[/quote]
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