Wings are great for recreational sailing, cruising, family boat, etc.

But I just have to say something about wings vis-a-vis racing. Most of the popular beachcats require getting crew weight forward for best performance in the kinds of relatively light-air conditons experienced in most parts of the country. Wings add weight aft of the mast, which is only beneficial in heavy air and make it pretty impossible to get enough crew weight forward to keep the sterns from dragging in most light or moderate wind conditions.

In addition, the way in which the wings are attached to the boat make it very difficult for the crew to get forward on the bow of the boat -- knee-knocker, shin-cracker -- to counteract the weight. And when the crew is required to keep moving forward and aft on the boat to keep the boat balanced properly, you can forget it if there are wings attached.

For our seminars, if someone is coming with a two-person boat that has wings, we usually recommend that they take them off for the seminar, because otherwise they are not going to be able to learn the basics of proper weight distribution. And leaving them on would be cruel and unusual punishment for the crew.