Jake, I think you ask a great "big picture question"

If you are going to foil... what is the best platform?

After all... a cat was a better speed solution then any monohull of even twice the size ... and when you added surf... the basic design was a clear winner. The other feature that seemed to work was the form stability.... cat's are not "tippy" So you got boats that worked from 3 to 30 and worked for newbies and rec sailors.

I haven't seen any of the mach 2 moths... but I would see the guys having to drag their moth I boats out to 4 feet of water sideways and then in breeze under 5 knots... the experience was unbearable. (some poor guy tried to race 12 miles from SSA to West river and never got out of the river...)

So... what does a foiling single handed cat get you over a foiling monohull? The A cats are not surf friendly... so that feature is moot. Do you get more speed with control having 4 foils with a cat? Do you get stability in big breeze and waves? Do you get light air sailing with the wide platform? I don't know...

I think you have to let the development class guys go for it in the A class box. (The elite guys are going to go for it anyway... soooo might as well hang on for the ride) Proof will be on the water....

Everyone seems to agree... adding lifting foils makes the boat easier and safer to sail in big breeze..NathanO in making the case for foiling A's said the crude first gen boat was much better in breeze up to 25... That in and of itself is a huge plus factor over the generation of boat that I have. Add in masts not breaking and the experience of sailing an A cat gets better.