I think we're being a little over-critical here...I would expect the same kind of damage result from any of the top catamaran racing classes in that kind of breeze. Would I hate to have that kind of break down? Absolutely. The expense is really what stings teams that are trying to string together a campaign (which is a lot of them - this crap is expensive). I really have a lot of respect for anyone competing at this level but I also feel like I should point out that someone is winning even through all of the pain. As a competitor I would look at those people and try to figure out what they are doing differently? I still feel like we should be championing the fact that there are multihulls involved at all.

As far as capsize testing, I don't even think the N17 had anything close to this mast during the evaluation phase - so it wouldn't have mattered.

If this kind of result is to be avoided, we (I use that term broadly) need to decide if the boats are to be made more bullet proof, capsize resistant, or if the wind limits should be reduced.


Jake Kohl