Seeker San, So what do your kids hold on to on the 17? Shroud, or hiking straps? Most people think a begginner boat would be like a hobie wave or something with a lip that you can grab on to. There really aren't any cats that don't dive the bows when pushed hard enough. I just think supercats sail bow down when powered up. Many factors contribute to this. Even if they are hard to pictchpole it still isn't very fast to have the whole hull under water. In the picture that i posted before, the supercat is working very hard to keep the bows up while we are leaning forward. We started at the same time as i recall and we are on the same downwind leg of the race. pretty shure that is Bill at the helm of the SC. I personally like to sail a boat bows up or flat, not bows down. Wouldn't feel comfortable at high speed reaching with the bows down to get shared lift. Also i take offense will Bill's comment that v in the tail is improper design. So what if it makes a boat harder to tack. Even Tornados only make 1 tack to the A mark if possible. V in the tail and bows up are good in the waves. In answer to your question about me sailing a SC17, actually, i worked at Boston Whaler SuperCat untill i was fired for not working on Saturday in spite of the fact that they had paid my expenses to race in Miami that weekend. Corp. b.s. -one hand didn't know what the other was doing. 1980 or 81... Bill's best design was the captive mast step-cudos there, the boats themselves don't do it for me. The round top just funnels the spray into your face and isn't worth it. The big Trimaran guys seem to use a similar hull for the ammas though. In any case it's a good thing that you get your kids out there cat sailing in the ocean. PS. there could be some errors here because the 80's were a while ago.
