HI JC, Yes, it would certainly be easier and probaly cost the same but it wouldn't be as much fun. I sail occasionally with David Lee on his Taipan and he has offered me a share in his boat but I have this urge to try out my ideas and to build a boat. Its like an itch, if you scratch the wrong place you wont get rid of it....
My ideas are basically that for the hull, if you have a smooth curve to the underwater shape, correct volume distribution and a fair hull you have a good hull shape. Then you need to be at the minimum weight and the whole thing has to be stiff. A lot of the speed is in the rig but most of all the sailor.
