You guys are mistaken scepsis with being a vinegar pisser.

Development and science are much helped by scepsis; of course as long as it doesn't become the dominant factor.

I'm sceptical about this design. The centre pod idea is nice but already tried and proven by those cats on like Geneva. The poleless spinnaker tack support (by a pair of bridles) isn't new either, the Swell Shadow for example has proven this setup to work. All carbon is nothing new either, see my earlier listing. The remainder of the rig is very standard, so too the hull shape and Marstrom rudders and rudderstocks for example. The platform is still two hulls, two beams and a trampoline.

So basically, what exactly is being developped here that hasn't already been succesfully developped by others ? One could almost say that they are trying to reinvent the wheel.

I respect the fact that a group of builders are going through the trouble of creating a new boat, but that in itself does not equal development.

Additionally, the boat is made larger then most other cats and therefor is very likely to be faster then the others. You don't need to be a top boat designer to figure this out. As such I'm personally not yet impressed by this design.

Alot more interesting would have been to use the same specs as the Tornado and then design it such that it beats the Tornado by a significant margin. Then we all as catamaran enthousiasts can learn something. Learn what new design features improve performance. Right now we can learn nothing because this boat is pretty much alone in its specs.

I will admit to feeling that the designers took the easy route to a line honours winner, by placing the specs well out of the way of other dominant cat designs. As such I fear they can only loose and never win. Afterall, if this design wins then HEY, it is a larger and lighter design, what will anybody expect ? But when it looses then everybody will be all over it.

No, it would have been alot more interesting when they used these idea's under a rule framework like the F18's or the specs of the Tornado design.

So again I'm being sceptical. The difference to being a downer is of course that I can argue my stance as I have done above.

Wouter