With the right person on the stick, and if the boat comes in on weight with the good gear on it, then there's nothing stopping the boat winning. Most important aspect is the crew though, equipment is only about 10% of winning (you can get around the course in reasonable time with crap gear), knowing what to do with it is the remainder.

Only one layer of glass on each side of the core. I'd prefer to not tell the laminate just yet until I've taken the boat out in a blow, ie. until I'm convinced it is a rugged boat. Although I may've already revealed it in another post somewhere.