Hey Boomer,
It must be that the most expensive boats are the best.
Funny thing is that. In the end it all comes down to a skillful design of a boat. The right use of low-tech materials but with highly skilled knowlegde will easily win over High Tech material without skilled designing.
I still think it to be a big joke that an all carbon and no limits boat has failed to win Texel for several years now. Each time it was run down by Tornado's, F18's and F20's which are still using alot of aluminium and plain glass with vinylester resin. So carbon, epoxy and titanium did not produce the result that was hoped for. It made a dent in the bank accounts but not really anywhere else.
What I meant is that if you're still in the process of learning and still are making mistakes then the choice for a much more available boat or parts is making more sense.
Indeed ! I actually agree with that. I just happen to disagree that the 17 foot singlehanders of the big catamran building companies are more abundant than the A-cats or Taipans. Over 300 Taipans were build and sold. Fleets of them are found in all continents of the world except Africa and south-america. The number of A-cats is a multiple of that again. In all honesty, I don't see any signs that suggest that the same numbers were ever sold of the modern 17 footers. So which are the more available classes ?
Especially when you're using carbon materials. In the beginning you want to sail and not wait on getting your boat ready.
I personally think that carbon fibre is highly overrated. I know of a few good applications, but apart from that you can just as well use more normal material without a significant loss of performance.
Will you be sailing the H16 ?
Wouter
