A few inserts of science.

-1- a Z-insert does as good as nothing to increase beam strength or stiffness and as such does not replace a dolphinstriker.

-2- A carbon beam without a dolphinstriker has much thicker walls on top and on the bottom (=additional cloth and resin used), as a result the weight savings are pretty small.

-3- A larger diameter alu beam or one with a thicker wall is also sufficient to be able to replace the dolphinstriker.

-4- Removing the dolphinstriker has drawbacks. The mainbeam will never be as stiff as the beam with a dolphin striker of the same overall weight. Flexing of the mainbeam (downwards) is the cause of the mainsail leach being less stable and tight. When sheeting, the leech response becomes "springy" This is one reason why a number of A-cats are still using dolphinstrikers.

-5- The drawbacks of a dolphinstrikerless beam increase disproportionally with increased boat width. The A-cat is a narrow boat and can get away with it without accepting to large negative effects. Wider boats will quickly end up with all of the drawbacks and a beam setup that is significantly heavier then even a plain alu-stainless steel dolphin striker setup. That is why wider all-carbon boats like the M20 and Volvo Extreme 20 have dolphinstrikers, although these are also made of carbon.

Wouter