Morelli and Melvin design, delightfully overpowered, no glass work, one string and (drumroll) cup holders. Seriously, I find the boat is a very nice ride and tacks just fine. The sheer number of boats on the line in the early nationals (60+?) was a riot. And it was different - you have to sail it really deep off the wind like a dinghy, and as a uni, it sails surprisingly high even without boards. I think it is a good boat and never would have sold mine if we hadn't moved to Cali where space is a very expensive concern (at least in LA county it is). Two cats and the associated storage fees just wouldn't pass muster with the wife.
To be fair, I also really enjoyed the Nacra 4.5 and the 5.0, and I owned a Mystere 4.3 - all skeg boats.
When my crew bailed on me for a Put in Bay race week several years ago, I nabbed a charter wave from Rick and raced with Rick, Stanly, Deb Shaffer, and the gang. The wind was light but it was one of the best darn times I had out on the water. Racing was tight and extremely tactical yet no one person really dominated like we typically see in our "high performance" regattas today. It was a fight down to the bitter end. I think I got 3rd behind Rick by 1 point - and I had him up until he took a flier on the last upwind leg....I'm still quite proud of that week of racing!
I nearly bought one when I got back home - but we just didn't have any other folks that raced them...and F18 was just coming on the scene.
Speed is relative. Exciting racing is about challenge and challenge goes up with equality in the boats.
Would you say racing go-carts was boring?
