Phill,
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<br>I,ve sailed on a several of the shapes out there, (admittedly not enough to be an expert), and here of some of my observations on the ones I tried.
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<br>Wave piercing (Fox, Javelin) handles like a dream up wind in flat to med seas. It feels as if it is digging in and driving to weather. When the waves were big and long they seem to pitch about the same as other hull shapes. In small short seas, when the wave height was higher than the hull depth, it fealt like the boat was fighting it to some extent, small waves were smoothed right out.
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<br>Down wind the feature that I liked most upwind, tracking, was a distraction. In big surf neither of those boats felt good in surfing conditions.
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<br>My opinion, is that this hull shape is not a revolution, but is a definite improvement in certain conditions.
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<br>One question I have to some of the readers, is that the Water rat has dominated several big events in the US (Worlds a couple of years ago, Nationals this year, and a couple of others), and it never gets any air time on this forum.
<br>The shape if far from the wave piercing design, but it has won quite a few of its outings. Is the cost of the platform the only feature that causes it to be written off?
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<br>MATT
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