Hey Robi -

That is Paul and Mary Ann Hess - two-time Hobie 16 National Champions. Paul has made two other Alter Cups before and has some spin experience. Very game chap. Mary Ann has less experience with the 'chute, but is still excellent crew. This team had a particularly tough week - it was their mast that broke. If the breeze had been a little more moderate, I think they really would have shined. Don't make the mistake of writing them off if you ever race them.

ps - I thought the mast on the Blade was very bendy. It stands to reason that it would flex more than the mast on the Capricorn, but it seems to do so much more than I expected. Looking at photos, it seems that the diamond wires attach at slightly different places than on the wingmast I have. I'm sure there are experts who have engineered the attachment points, but they seem too low to me, leaving too much mast unsupported up high. Remember that nobody pushed the Alter Cup boats downwind very hard - when the wind was up, so was the sea-state. After our first gigantic stuff on our first downwind leg, we changed gears and never really changed back. Granted, the boat seemed to like it that way, but I feel it could be pushed quite a bit harder in flatter water - I just didn't feel we were going as fast as we could have been. My point is, however, that the mast seemed really bendy, even in the low-and-slow mode.