Before they "frowned" me out of their beercan races, I used to take the local fleet to task with my boat (I-20). It was a staggard start, with the highest handicap boats starting first, and so on. We were the last to start (had to wait 38 minutes on the 3 mile course), behind 2 J-24s and a J-105 with full complement of sails/crew.

Truth be told, it would probably be harder than it is if their skippers would not pinch so bad. Yes, monos CAN point higher, but most people pinch so bad, they kill themselves going straight for A.

And as we've read above, pointing OR reaching in any moderate wind (over 8 kts) need not be discussed (other than stories of whizzing past all of those crewmembers in their matching outfits on the windward rail).

The skippers I've talked to are not thrilled with beachcats because: (1) they are wet and wild (these people are relatively older) (2) it is hard to find crew, much less crew that can take the physical abuse of hard catsailing, (3) size matters - the bigger the boat, the bigger the respect at the yacht club, (4) they can't take the whole family out for a day on the boat if it's a H-16 (of course, they're not out racing with their whole family, are they?), (5) "Go with what you know" mentality. We all grew up with Sunfish, Flying Scotts, Lasers, etc. When you say "Sailboat race", most think that way. When you say "Beachcat", people think Hobie Getaway rentals tooling around near shore.

Now, having said all of that, the local fleet is seeing quite a surge in trimaran boats. I guess this is the best compromise for them between the leaners and cats.