I find these discussions of new technology vs old school on this forum and other forums and even in the news very entertaining. It would be interesting to know the type of sailing the various people on both sides of the discussion have done and see if there is any correlation to how they feel about things vs what they have done in their sailing past.
I started in dinghy's 50 years ago, raced catamarans (Hobies to Tornados) in the '70s early '80s, bought a beat up Sydney Harbor 18' skiff (from the organization that just lost the AC) in the mid 80s, was the US distributor to the forerunner of the Olympic 49er in the late '80s early 90s. During this same time I've owned and raced several monohulls from 20' to 34'. Now I'm not trying to toot my own horn here, I'm just trying to point out maybe the reason I embrace the high tech boats in the AC.
I'm just waiting on the trickle down. Did someone put an asymmetrical spinnaker on a cruising boat first? One day someone may come up with something that I glue to the bottom of my 40 year old O'Day to make it point better or reduce hull drag. Do I need it at almost 64 (July 4th) and my 2-3 hour cruises around the lake a couple of times a week, NO, but it would sure be fun to read about and discuss with you folks. Now should I spring for that retractable bowsprit and asymmetrical?
I started in dinghy's 50 years ago, raced catamarans (Hobies to Tornados) in the '70s early '80s, bought a beat up Sydney Harbor 18' skiff (from the organization that just lost the AC) in the mid 80s, was the US distributor to the forerunner of the Olympic 49er in the late '80s early 90s. During this same time I've owned and raced several monohulls from 20' to 34'. Now I'm not trying to toot my own horn here, I'm just trying to point out maybe the reason I embrace the high tech boats in the AC.
I'm just waiting on the trickle down. Did someone put an asymmetrical spinnaker on a cruising boat first? One day someone may come up with something that I glue to the bottom of my 40 year old O'Day to make it point better or reduce hull drag. Do I need it at almost 64 (July 4th) and my 2-3 hour cruises around the lake a couple of times a week, NO, but it would sure be fun to read about and discuss with you folks. Now should I spring for that retractable bowsprit and asymmetrical?