Wouter,
A few corrections:
>>Why he uses full volume, elliptical shaped bows...
>...Eliptical hulls have been tried by other designers and since then they have moved on to other hullshapes that are superior to the elliptical ones. On big drawback of elliptical crossections seems to be the spray that comes of them.
LS-They are still preferred in most ocean racing multihulls like the Open 60 tris. Bill designed his boats to sail with waves.
>>His "Shared lift Concept" to help counter act the effects of sailing with a spinnaker on the helm.
>OF which many sailors and designers by now have stated that it is NOT an issue on modern boats...
LS-Exactly, but shared lift is not only about balancing the boat with the spi. There is another claim: a smaller daggerboard further forward combined with a bigger rudder allow both foils to work more efficiently, ultimately reducing drag.
>> His "Self Tacking Jib" system...
> ...Bill uses a straight track and that is arguable inferiour. And believe me no amount of special pully system can make a straight track as good as a properly designed curved track.
LS-Only the older boats I saw had straight tracks. I think curved tracks are being used today.
>>His use of a mast section with sufficient volume (buoyancy) to keep his cats from going "turtle" in most circumstances.
>Gee man, I thought that all cats, excluding the Hobie 14, had this feature implemented. Even the cats that are older in design than the SC / ARC products had this so I guess Bill was not the first to think this one up.
LS-High volume wingmasts may be older but Bill's idea was to SEAL them so that they can float. I think he was first in this.
>>He is an amazing person to talk to…he has the ability to cut thru all the hype and get right to the core or the problem.
> ...Ever noticed how in all pictures of the ARC-17 on the acquarius website the bow is almost under water, without the crew trapezing and on absolute flat water?
LS-The SC 17 was designed to be sailed with half of the bow height under water for lift - remember it has no daggerboard.
Cheers,
