May The Force Be With You
by: Rod Waterhouse of Team Domino's Pizza International


Comments on the new G-Force 21 by: Rod Waterhouse of Team Domino's Pizza International [2nd Place in 1989 World 1000, sailing the G-Force 21].

Just recently I was fortunate enough to compete in my 7th World/Worrell 1000, a grueling 1000 mile event sailed up the east coast of the United States in open design, off-the-beach catamarans.

From experience in this event, I knew what type of boat was required. Super fast, light-weight yet strong and rugged in construction. Lastly we needed a design that would not break the budget.

While making inquires and wading through the options, e.g. Nacra, Prindle, Hobie, Tornado and Supercat, I came across an exciting new design, the G-Force 21 by Hans Geissler of G-Force High Tech, Inc. in Largo, Florida.

This off-the-beach, off-the-shelf production cat powered us across the finish line of the 1989 World 1000 ahead of all boats except the superflyer that Randy Smyth had especially built for the race at huge cost. Even the final result was doubtful with us feeling that the event should have been awarded to us but that is history now and I will not go into details.

By being the first production cat across the finish line we had proven the G-Force 21 to be the best of this breed of super-catamarans. It proved itself to be the fastest yet the most practical. We affectionately referred to our boat as the "Family Boat" as it cleverly disguised its enormous horsepower.

As an indication of speed; on a fast reaching leg during the race the boat officially covered 77.5 miles in a total elapsed time of 3:59:09 for an average speed of 19.44 miles-per-hour. We estimate that due to our course along shore, the actual distance sailed was closer to 100 miles.

We not only won this leg of the race but set a new course record. In comparison, a Tornado sailed by the Russian Olympic team-members traveled the leg in just over five hours. That equals a 25% speed advantage over the Tornado. AWESOME!

Apart from sheer speed, the boat is very dry and comfortable due to its high freeboard. We were the only boat in the race not to have centerboards. We consistently pointed higher than the highest raking other boats. You wonder where the other designs went wrong. Not having centerboards is a huge bonus as it eliminated the hassle of raising and lowering. Also, we tended to be out drinking an enjoying ourselves after the days racing while the other teams worked to all hours repairing the centerboard cases and the ever-present centerboard case leaks.

I thoroughly enjoyed sailing the G-Force 21 and recommend it to any person who wants to own the fastest production catamaran on the market. Sailing in comfort for 1000 miles convinced me!

And that looks like the 8'6" wide version. There is a Grand Prix model near me that is 11' wide. It sits on a trailer next to a Stiletto 23. I'm sure it's even faster than that stiletto is, too.

the dommino pizza boat has a 12 ' beam with a 33' mast and the weigth is 400 LPS hans

Any clue where I could buy one like that?

Actually, I'd rather just widen my 5.7M to 10'. Is this possible without resorting to a dolphin striker? Having the mast oriented vertically with internal stiffeners seems to create an incredibly strong section, but could it handle two more feet? Would adding 1' extra to each side of the beam be better than cutting down two beams and joining them in the center, or is it such a common extrusion that I could salvage one from a mast?

you need a dolphin striker for shure, also you need a one pease beam. hans

How about... getting two 10' sections of one-piece beam of the same extrusion, cutting the sail-track off of one and using it to sleeve the other. Would that be strong enough without resorting to a dolphin striker?

Also- what extrusions are the G-Cat 5.7M's beams?