amiddleton Posted January 30, 2013 Report Share Posted January 30, 2013 WANTED TO BUY ALPHA OMEGA F14 CATAMARAN contact Angus - amiddleton@sacapital.com.au Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dave66 Posted February 17, 2013 Report Share Posted February 17, 2013 one just listed on ebay , wollongong N.S.W . Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
blackmozz Posted March 27, 2013 Report Share Posted March 27, 2013 one just listed on ebay ' date=' wollongong N.S.W .[/quote'] I dont think he actually wants an F 14/Alpha....I offered him mine and he hasnt got back to me Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gazereth78 Posted March 27, 2013 Report Share Posted March 27, 2013 Hey black is it a fair dinkem f14? Carbon fibre everything? How much you want for it? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Prince Planet Posted March 28, 2013 Report Share Posted March 28, 2013 Beats me why anyone would want to purchase a boat that is no longer supported by a manufacturer - when there are classes out there that are 'struggling' to attract sailors... yet still do manage to get reasonable numbers at the major regattas... All very well to have the fastest 14 ever made in OZ - but if you're way out in front of the pack - with no comparable boat to gauge your performance - well where's the fun in that? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gazereth78 Posted March 28, 2013 Report Share Posted March 28, 2013 Hi Prince I'm a Windrush Man thru and thru. I'm lucky to live here in the west where Brett can supply all the trimmings i'll need. I had a look at the Youtube footage of the Alpha F14 and thought it looked good. I liked the idea of a good looking modern 14 foot boat. Being fairly new to the whole thing, (having graduated to Windy 14s from Windy 12s) i did a bit of research on the f14. Read a lot about it on this site and the USA site. It seems that the idea was sound however no one was willing to pay top dollar for a 14ft boat. I am having a blast sailing my boat and will probably stay with the class. I like the single sailor, shedable boats. The Windrush has a firm hold here in the west. Not many other 14ft boats over here. Some Hobies and a few maricats. Now if only Brett would put his considerable talents to a 16ft single sailor class, i would be happy. Cheers and Keep flying the Windrush flag flying in the East. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Prince Planet Posted March 29, 2013 Report Share Posted March 29, 2013 Yes, I've asked Brett to design a 15ft with the same ease of rigging and versatility as the W14 - but I guess he didn't see the value in it - so put the development into the F18... IMHO a 16ft cat is really a 2-man boat - simply coz of the length - it becomes quite difficult to manhandle it... although I'm sure the A-Class and Taipan sailors would disagree... it's just that it's very rare to see these out-and-out racing machines as 'off-the-beach' boats... too fragile and too hi-tech for the average sailor or new-comer to the scene... and anything with centreboards is perceived to be more race-oriented than a leisure boat that can also be raced (and not be dismissed as a joke) – if the fever grips... Of course Nacra has the 430 - a 14ft cat – nice design but the criticism is that it's not that much of a leap forward - and is designed as a compromise boat... so I guess the 'next' really successful cross-over boat has yet to be designed... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gazereth78 Posted March 30, 2013 Report Share Posted March 30, 2013 I am just a novice sailor but i would like to think i could handle something a bit sportier in the future. The windy is a handful at the moment so all is well. I can understand there is no money in the manufacture of a few small cats. The AO boys tried to sell there's for about 17k but no one was interested. I wonder what we would say if Brett told us he had a racing 14 - 15ft single handed boat ready for sale tomorrow. Price tag 15k. I'm not sure how many of us would take him up on the offer. It would take a bit of convincing the finance department to let me have one of those. The 4 AO's which were built are still out there somewhere, so no one wants to sell them. I reckon 14ft people want to buy secondhand cats which don't carry the price tag of the big boats. Family operations. Someday maybe i'll have produced my own crew in the way of a son (or daughter) which will lend its self to a bigger boat. As for now the Windy Will do. Hoping for a new suite of sails someday. Just need to work out how all the water is getting into the hulls. lol. I believe the hatches are to blame. Thats a winter job. On a different note does anybody drill a hole in the base of the mast to let the water out? I sealed the mast pretty well with silicone, however water seems to find a way. I drilled a drain hole in the side of the mast base. Hopefully this will solve the problem. I just need to get it back upright fairly quickly after a capsize. As i am new to traps this happens quite regularly, i don't mind pushing the limits and fishing myself out of the drink a few times an afternoon. Just a thought as well, i have rigged up a tie down for the main haliard (not sure of the spelling there) to allow me to remove the rope. After raising the mainsail, i unclip the haliard and leave it on the beach. Can anyone think of any reason to lower the main out on the water? Cheers Gazereth Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
QB2 Posted March 30, 2013 Report Share Posted March 30, 2013 If you are keen to get an AO keep an eye on ebay , trading post etc as the older fibreglass/core mat cats do turn up now and then. If you wanted to talk to The Fibreglass factory in Adelaide as they may still have the moulds for the AO14. They still can produce AO centreboards and rudders so may ogther bitys left for the carbon versions. the AO's come with holes in the mast base to allow water to run out Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gazereth78 Posted March 30, 2013 Report Share Posted March 30, 2013 Hi QB2 Yeah I spoke to Mr Barrett at some length about the history of the carbon fibre f14. He said the starting price was 17k about 10 years ago. He couldn't begin to add up what it would cost these days. I'm cool with my windy at the moment, it was just a rush of blood and a cool video which got me thinking. Then cool heads and the finance minister brought me to my senses. I just don't have the need for a new cat at the moment. I'll look at some new stuff for the Windy, maybe a Foamy in the future who knows. Cheers Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Prince Planet Posted April 15, 2013 Report Share Posted April 15, 2013 Nothing against the AO - but who needs one when you can do this kinda stuff on a Windrush 14? Mannering Park Open Cat Regatta... Warren Pfeifer and Dave 'Full Tilt' doing their thang... [ATTACH=CONFIG]1322[/ATTACH][ATTACH=CONFIG]1323[/ATTACH] Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
madboutcats Posted April 15, 2013 Report Share Posted April 15, 2013 Not close to the same boat Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Prince Planet Posted April 16, 2013 Report Share Posted April 16, 2013 Hmmm - r u saying that u can't have as much fun on a Windy? Doubt it... Interesting discussion at KCC last time I was there. about 14's in general and the AO in particular –*very enlightening about the AO - apparently more and more sail was thrown at it until it could compete successfully - and practically uncontrollable off-wind... apparently the only guy who could sail it without coming to grief on a regular basis was the designer... But I do like the design concept - the forward beam is a good idea - stiffens the boat immensely... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
QB2 Posted April 17, 2013 Report Share Posted April 17, 2013 I have had problems with my AO steering but put that down to having different rudders which came with it on purchase. I have continually struggled with either excessive weather or lee helm and on the advice of the designer raked the mast forward to vertical and also undercut the rudders to improve balance but found that in a recent strong gust even with balanced helm it took both hands on the tiller to stop the cat trying to spear off down wind, which was bloody scary to say the least. I can't understand considering the hull profile and excellent height/surface area you can get deep in the water going to windward how the cat wants to spear downwind. Is it mast rake, rudder angle, CGE centre of effort changing or other factors.. I have struck other 14 foot cats with strange quirks, one called a Capricorn built in Townsville which had a tendency to float on its sterns with the bows in the air rather than on one hull when capsized. It also had the old style very short beach rudders and would steer into the wind in a gust. It went a lot better with Maricat/windy rudders attached. I recently bought a set of newish, much longer F18 rudders and hopefully will get vastly improved handling. Failing that I expect more fine tuning to try to sort the problem out once and for all. The other thing I really want to do is install a jib for upwind performance but was told the cat can't take one even though it could take a flat cut spinnaker .. which was surprising considering the availability of the strong front beam to mount the jib. Has anyone put a jib on an AO or a sail with a spinny? Are there any Ao owners out there with similar problems or solutions? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
QB2 Posted April 17, 2013 Report Share Posted April 17, 2013 images available in my library Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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