Sorry, couldn't resist. Best way to to start racing is to jump in and do it - take your lumps at first and vow to beat the suckers next time! Or find a club that's a little lower pressure. Can't find one? Start one! Also, if you wait until your boat stops breaking to do anything, you'll never do it! Breaking is just one of the things boats do...

You might be surprised at how much weight total the wings add. My wings are the old style magnum wings, not the even bigger SX wings. Mine are basically a loop of tubing with some extra supports and small tramps - pretty much the same idea as the 17 except they hinge and thus have support tubes underneath that rest on the outer beam castings. And, taken individually they're not that heavy, and yes, you can lift them easily with various body parts if you're so inclined! For 40lbs or so total, that's 20 lbs per side. The tramps actually weigh a bit (even the mesh), so the bare wings themselves might be 10-15. It all adds up.