I can tell you from experience (like many of you can) that sailing in a LOT of air is pretty dern risky... when we left the beach the last day of the Worrell, it was blowing +/-30 with the gusts well beyond that... We were reaching and I can tell you from the GPS that we broke 30 mph SEVERAL times (like during every puff). We had the sails eased and were on the edge of out of controll even in the lulls....lets not talk about what happened when the storm hit (National Weather Service Measured gusts above 60mph). It bewilders me that an I-20 can handle that sort of abuse, but I know that there are boats that are not built nearly as well as Inters are.



I enjoy big air... i also enjoy REALLY BIG air, but unless you can do it safely (boat and sailors), you should not be out there. I don't know if the SI's should dictate upper wind velocites. I do think, you should know your limits and not go out unless you can handle yourself.



If you are going to win a major regatta and prove yourself as one of "the best", you should be able to handle whatever is thrown at you. I will go sail in 35+, but consider 30mph the upper limit of what is truly sailable...it just becomes a "game" of survival after that.



Will R