I'm with Jake here.
Sometimes you need to go high.
I know that the last 5 miles of that race, I was trying to cover Space Coast when they snuffed their chute and started going over us. Knowing that Mark would simply pull his chute out of his snuffer (we had to tramp launch ours) if we started to douse, we popped about 4" of tack line out, double trapped and I had to play the traveller to keep us going. Point is, you can, sometimes, need to pop some tack line... not often in bouys though.
We ended up letting him get ahead of us... so he could find the sandbar for us 
Sorry to hijack the thread..but while we are talking about pointing and using the kite....I came up with an adjustable tack line while using the stock Nacra snuffer.
I simply attached a lead at the end of the hoop, then ran a line thru the back in to a cam-cleat on the front beam. The line was measured with a stop knot to adjust from about the distance as if it were tied, to about 4-6" out. Worked pretty good to give adjustment.
If you want to keep it simple, you can always guess the conditons, then tie of the tack accordingly before you sail.
Michael
The Blade F16 (little brother from which the Blade F18 is derived) is build in the USA by http://www.vectorworkssail.com and it costs (fully fitted, race ready, Ullman suit of sails) 12.900 US$
More info at : Full price list given by Doug in an earlier post
The Blade F18 (as in video) is in its final development stages and so is not commericially available yet. However, I personally expect to see Vectorworks Marine add it to their product line in the not to distant future. It should be cheaper then the imported F18's (Tiger, Capricorn, Cirrus) then and on a par with other domestic F18's (Nacra, Mystere).
If you want more info about anything then contact : Phill Brander or Matt McDonald. I'll give you their e-mail adresses when interested.
Wouter
This will be a great addition to their product line for Vectorworks Marine.
If VectorWorks Marine indeed chooses to go for the new boat as I personally expect then she is forming a beautiful product line-up :
- Blade F16 (available)
- Bim XJ A-cat (available)
- Blade F18 (expected)
- Blade 20 footer; Ultimate distance racer (Rolf, this will be something for you)
On www.bladecatamarans.com a presistant rumour is given more credit, see http:/
It talks of the Blade 20 footer. Imagine a Taipan 5.7 (similar weight and rig) but with the new Blade hullshape and an updated rig. Got that picture ? Well this is where I expect it to come out at. Bloody fast and a pleasure to sail with excellent handling. And if VectorWorks Marine decides to take it to the market then this will be the first real competition for the I-20 design. The support of a significant production company will make the difference that boats like CFR20 etc simply don't have.
However, we'll have to wait a little while longer for this. One thing I like about Phill is that he doesn't rush things. It is either very good or gets another year of development. An engineers dream as I'm sure you agree Jake.
Wouter
One thing matt told me at Tradewinds about the proposed 20 footer would be that it would have kickup high-aspect boards.
I gotta see that.
Yes I would. I can appreciate that.
Doug: this is the Blade F18 thread, and I'd imagine that's what the question relates to. I know the F16 Blade is available, but I don't think (or know) that the F18 is.
Maughan,
technically, kickup daggers are not too hard to do. There has been made some prototypes for the Tornado. The downside is that you need gaskets to cover the bottom of the well as the boards need room to rotate aft..
Look at this: http:/
The mechanism can be refined a lot so it's hidden in the hull, or look for some other ideas further down on the page. Knowing a certain designers ability to think "out of the box", there might be something completely different in the works.
PS: Browsing trough Reino Uralas site is well worth, he has done lots of interesting stuff. Last was a VPP study of when to go double trapezeing downwind with the spi on a Tornado..
Rolf: I thought it would involve gaskets, but Matt indicated that it wasn't the case IIRC.
Inter_Michael,
How did you run the line? It doesn't get in the way of snuffing? Diagram?
Jake,
Did you run a doubler on the spin sheet to ease the loads. We've found this really helps on crew fatigue when carrying the kite high on distance races. We tied a pigtail to the clew of the kite with a carbo block on it and tied a stopper knot in the end of the spin sheet. When you want to deploy the doubler you draw the stopper knot back from the pulley to a hook attached to the shroud adjuster (or on top of your spinnaker turning block on the hull).
Chris.
no doubler
the doubler is to slow when playing the curl of the luff.
nah...I don't think Carl would have had enough patience for me to go to the low side to cleat it...he and I share similar focus levels. Running so high, I wonder if with 2:1 if I could react fast enough to a collapsing kite.
no doubler needed, just use your legs to pull the line. Wrap it around your arm a couple times so you can grip it.
Or use jake's gauntlet.
Yes, the 2:1 works great. I wouldn't do a long distance event without it..
Yeah, I kept waiting for the line "She's so fine, there's no telling where the money went".
Regards,
Eric
If you take a look at the beautiful job that Performance Catamarans of Santa Ana, California did on the new Nacra 580, you'll find that a kick up centerboard, that has a proper foil shape, can indeed be self sealing with no added gaskets.
Pictures of the Nacra 580 with kick up centerboards
This centerboard seals the trunk when it is fully retracted and it also seals the trunk when it is fully extended.
Flashback in time: Check out my April Fools Post from 2003:
that is based on their new F18. The hull shapes are very similar to
the newer Nacra F18 but a bit larger. They are narrow, have a very
fine entry, tall plumb bows, and a super-cool ultra thin walled
chromium-alloy (chromolly) super strong and lightweight mast that
has better flex characteristics than other current aluminum or
carbon fiber masts.
The centerboards are high aspect ratio eliptical shaped foils that
employ a new centerboard gasketing system that provides a near
perfect seal in all the centerboard trunk that is not occupied by
the long slender foil. When the boards are lifted half way up, they
swing so far aft that the center of lateral resistance is moved
significanlty aft and thus provides a superior resistance to
broaching.
It's my dream; very much a dream boat!
GARY
post
GARY
That daggerboard is a bit to short with too long a chord for my taste. The sealing part of it could use some adjustment to fit the hulls properly 
But kickup daggers would be great on a distance racer, no reason to worry too much about what you can hit with them. The extra weight added to the kickup mechanism can probably be re-gained as you dont have to reinforce the daggerboard well and bulkheads around it as heavily. I like it a lot! Just need a working and robust mechanism.
Have you tought about starting a fortune-telling business Gary? Seems like you are plenty succesful at it, or is your talent limited to beachcats? 
Pardon my french here but what a non-informative post that turned out to be. Look at it was stated :
that is based on their new F18.
Both info elements in this sentence are just plain non-sense. It was actually just a centreboard version on the Nacra 5.8; that is even reflected in its name. It DOES NOT comply with F20 rules; it is not heavy enough. So that info element was non-sense as well.
the newer Nacra F18 but a bit larger.
Not really, the hullshapes are more like the old nacra's; the N5.2's, N5.5's, N5.8's and even N5.7's, then the nacra F18.
fine entry, tall plumb bows,
What is narrow on a catamaran. I think the hulls to be rather medium in the way of narrowness. And it doesn't have a plumb bow like the Inters. Tall ? Well the Nacra F18 has tall bows the nacra 580 doesn't. At least not more then its predessor 5.8 and other nacra boats of that time frame.
chromium-alloy (chromolly) super strong and lightweight mast that
has better flex characteristics than other current aluminum or
carbon fiber masts.
Right ! All other designers are still using wooden masts on their boats right ? And clearly carbon wing masts are inferiour to this pretty standard tear drop shaped mast. Talking up your product is one thing but still is more then a little over the top is it not ?
The N580 centreboards have an aspect ratio of 2 (the width fits 2 times in the wetted length); see provide pics.
As comparison :
F18's daggers aspect ratio are between 3 and 4. Nearly double that of the N580.
A-cats daggers are close to ratio of 4.
Even the old Nacra 5.8 (predessor) had a daggerboard aspect ratio of 2.4 = 20 % more then the new one.
But we call these new dagger "high aspect ratio" !
swing so far aft that the center of lateral resistance is moved
significanlty aft and thus provides a superior resistance to
broaching.
Please all catamaran sailors that suffer broaching on their boat raise their hands.
No-one ?
Ofcourse broaching is a monohull problem. It is linked to the heeling of the boat and the weatherhelm that is caused by the centre of effort being suddenly moved far out of line to the single daggerboard as a result.
I rest my case now.
Wouter
Wouter, I think the key here is "Check out my April Fools Post from 2003:".
Pardon my french here...
...I rest my case now.
Wouter
Nice one Wout. Way to see the forest for the trees.
Do they have April Fool's Day over yonder? (April 1st - a day for jokes and hijinx)
haha, good one, Jake...
agree with that
Lighten up, Francis.
I just blew milkshake out my nose when I read that.
Jake owes me a new laptop keyboard now 😛
oh boy I`ve missed the forum for a while, but this one is much too good to miss.
Maugan, gotta meet you some day. Wouter too.
if laughter is food for the soul, my soul just gained a few pounds.
April Fools Post from 2003 ?!
Ahh darn !
I'm know to put my foot in my mouth from time to time, but this one beats all the rest I'm sure.
Hook, line and sinker guys, no doubt.
Yep we have april fools joke overhere as well so I should have know better.
Good one
Wouter