CAT 14
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TEST TOPAZ 14 TOPAZ14 Do you like the idea of sailing full bore, singlehanded on the wire with a kite? You don't have to do it on a dinghy - Jeremy Evans enjoys the challenge of a feisty new cat, the Topaz 14 Xtreme. ob White, who develops the Topper • Sailboats range at White Formula in Brightlingsea, comes from an illustrious cat racing background, so it's no surprise that he's gone back to his roots and produced two new Topaz cats. Yves Loday, his design partner, has an equally illustrious cat sailing background. He also won an Olympic gold medal in the Tornado and went on to collaborate with Rob's dad Reg White on boats including the Dart 16, Spitfire and Shadow. With such a pedigree, expectations were high for the Topaz 16, which went into production last summer, followed by the Topaz 14 earlier this year. For this test we've focussed on the Xtreme - a souped-up, singlehanded variation on the Topaz 14. ~ -< Q') -< --I rrI (I) --I

Riqht The Topaz 14 Xtreme is best sailed fast and free for upwind speed. Rigs and rigging Below Neat details include labelled tail baqs to keep the trampoline tidy and uncluttered. Below riqht The 14 is super-quick offwind, but balanced on one slim hull it is a little twitchy and will reward experienced sailors. Joined by Youth Worlds cat gold medallist Richard Glover for the day, before going afloat in the Xtreme we had a look at the options. All the other variations are designed to be sailed by one or two fairly light crew, although there's enough room for three on the trampoline if...

TEST TOPAZ 14 kite it flew in a Force 4 breeze. But it's also a fairly easy boat to sail. The trampoline is uncluttered with a lot of space to move around. When you want to go out on the trapeze, it's easy to hook on and push away from the side - the 'bumpy' non­ slip is weird looking, but works pretty well. Basic technique for sailing upwind is to crank the mainsheet in hard and sail free and fast, with the windward hull skimming the surface, pulling on downhaul (easy to tweak from the wire) to flatten and depower the mainsail. When the breeze was up it felt easy to drive the Xtreme at...

ANSWER BACK from Rick Reading half the cost of a Shadow, also designed by Yves Loday and built in Kevlar laminate. Richard Glover summed up the performance of the Xtreme: 'When you jump on you immediately know you are going to have a good sail. Being only 67kg I thought I might be over-powered with the big fathead sail, but I just went fast instead with the Xtreme feeling like a light fast dinghy. Downwind it really flew - a bit tricky until you get the hang of it, but once you respond at the right time, trapezing downwind with the gennaker and riding the gusts is really good fun. Now I...