One more thing..

I used my HT in the Ocean, not in a lake, and the rest of the Newport crowd sailed in the Ocean - not in a lake. We had 6 boats and up to 12 at regatta's - nothing major broke.

I sailed in the Sail for Hope the year a dozen or so boats had to be rescued by the Coast Guard, monohulls lost masts, the F40 lost the top of the mainsail, an international 14 was abandoned and smashed to little pieces on Beavertail. We saw 30knts and 10ft ocean swell. The sound of the wind in my rigging upwind was something I will never forget. Two 190lb guys double trapped upwind in 8- 10ft waves - slamming upwind, overpowered and gusty and the boat was fine. The carbon mast was bending off like an A cat mast, the boat felt light and lively and tacking was lighting fast.

My HT came home in one piece, and performed like a champ. My perspective was that it was a solid lightweight boat. Nothing broke

My perspective is that the F18 is easier to make go fast, and that the HT punishes you for being wrong and having the wrong sail trim, weight distribution, etc. I think that some guys didnt like it because they didnt take the time to figure out how to make the boat really sing.

Compared to a I20 the HT feels unstable, and jerky, but thats the combination of the tall mast, light weight and low volume hulls giving you input. I think this responsive feeling was the best thing about the boat, not the worst.

Flying a chute downwind in the Atlantic Ocean, off the coast of Newport with Mark Murray, he was steering I was trimming the chute. The way he carved the Ocean swell that was generated from some hurricane 300 miles away, downwind flying, up and over the big round waves, accelerating down each wave, was something I will never forget.

I like the Bimare HT and have logged many hours on it. I think its a fine boat.

Bill