Jul 7, 2010
Recently Craig Milton from Townsville recieved his new F16. I thought we could ask him a few qusetions to get to know a bit about him and where he races his boat.
- What is you local sailing club and tell us a bit about it?
Townsville sailing club is situated on the strand, which is a beautiful spot. We rig up on grass under the shade . The waters we sail is known as Cape Cleveland Bay, and the winds and sea change dramatically from flat to choppy but we get all conditions to sail and learn. The Clubs been there for over 100 years and continues to be strong with a large class of catamarans, tasers, sabots and lasers.
- I'm fairly sure there are no other F16s in your part of the world (yet). So how did you find out about the class and what attracted you to it?
The first thing I was looking for was a high performance Cat. I had an F18 and enjoyed the high adrenilin but the weight of the boat and always needing a crew did not allow me to sail one up, so i started looking for something in between.
By the end of 2008 I was already interested in the f16 but went with the Nacra 16 square due to class size and one up capability. It was a great boat to sail but in reality was was not what i was really after, especially when it came to sailing with a kite. A high performance cat is what i really wanted.
I then started reading and looking closer to the F16 both Blade and Viper. After lots of conversations with local sailor and articles that i'd read i decided to get a new Viper.
I have to metion that a lot of people tried to down play getting into the f16 class, due to the weight controversy and small fleet etc. But these are not and issue to me. Because i was after a light well built high performance cat that give you the same experience as the F18. But is much more managable for one person. I knew the F16 was a small class but in the years to come it will grow due to the reasons ive stated above.
- Do you see the F16 managing to gain a foothold in Far North Queensland racing scene? What boats are big there at the moment?
Already i have had a few people really interested in the F16 due to it being a very exciting high performance Cat. They love the volume of the hulls and the quality of the Viper. So yes i do see it growing here.
At present Infusion f18 is quite large here, 16 square and 4.5 Nacras along with lasers, Tasers and Sabots.
- Is there any cool regattas up your way that the southerners should consider coming to?
The 2 main regattas are Tinaroo in May and Mission Beach. There is also a regatta in Townsville over the Queens birthday weekend and Airlie Beach also hold one. If there is any regatta to consider then Mission Beach should be number one.
I Hope to get down for the F16 nationals but will always depend on work and money. I sure will do all i can to get there.
