You shoulda talked me out of it... Wasn't that great.
The first tack felt good in moderate 12-15mph but it felt sluggish after that. On the 18-2 it is anything but.
Observations:
The square top was slightly shorter and about a foot and a half wider so I had to use the longer boom from the 18.2. It went up smoothly, but was harder to hook in with all that material at the top.
With the boom extending farther aft of the tiller, the net effect was more trouble sheeting hard with the traveler centered. When you traveled out, things lined up better and there seemed like the sail generated more power and you could pull the tack lower. It worked well with the smaller P18 jib. The boat seemed to point higher, but was not faster on a reach, as I expected.
Downwind, the square top was a much nicer profile and the battens performed better.
All, in all, it was very stable with the extra top area, on all tacks and wind speeds. Flying the hull was not any trickier but getting her up there was harder. Fun - but not the kick in the pants I had hoped for.
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Prindle 18
96734
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