phil_taipan117 Posted November 19, 2007 Report Share Posted November 19, 2007 I saw an article on 7:30 report the other night on the refurbishment of Ben Lexen's (Bob Miller) old 18 footer, "Taipan". Built in the 1950's this was a revolutionary boat for its time, as it was super light, had enclosed decks and only 3 crew. What took my eye were the winglets on the rudder, a set in the middle and another set at the bottom. The wings are a lot smaller than on the F16 Stealth or F14 AO. What it indicates that even back then this brilliant designer had worked out the hydrodynamic benefits of wings. Apparently "taipan" was so fast they wanted to outlaw it. It made all other 18 footers redundant overnight. It is stored in the Maritime Museum. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dave Posted November 21, 2007 Report Share Posted November 21, 2007 I saw the show too. A good report on a topic not often seen in prime-time. There was also an excellent article on the restoration of the boat in the latest issue of Australian Sailing magazine. Always great to designers out on the cutting edge. Dave. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
xmatelot Posted November 21, 2007 Report Share Posted November 21, 2007 Do you recall the "BobCat", one of the multitude of Bob Millers designs, hardly a superfast cat, but it filled a niche in the marketplace at the time,before the proliferation of "off the beach" cats. pete Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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