The way things should be

Guys ,
Thanks for the encouragement re the punk boat.
I have irons in fires that may mean that it is possible to buy one on the open market in the forseeable future as an improved mk2 version. Fingers crossed for that.
As for the speed - I consider it to be 90 seconds an hour quicker than my cloned self in a laser.
Poss a touch more in 3-6 kts when the laser rig is spectacularly bad. For same "box" dimensions, ease of use, and i believe very similar sail area.
It doesn't roll tack as well though.
To be honest the rig shares more design DNA with Rodney's Finn than a windsurfer, but certainly some modern touches help to broaden the performance. It is also far less costly than the glam Finn rigs.
I reckon the phant is a similar amount quicker than the punk. I can live with them in light airs ww/lw, but any reaching and or breeze and all that extra length, sail area and beam on deck really starts working.
The conditions flattered me / the boat at broxbourne - pretty much all of the boats that Graeme mentions would have pasted the punk to one degree of another given open water and steadier / or more breeze. If ever the punk will punch above its weight, its in those conditions. I think the x1 especially beat me over the water in all but maybe 2 races. A real weapon in those conditions! Also, I spent my formative years racing on a shifty river - it's amazing how much boat speed can be overcome by being in a puff on a lift.
I think that to think about the pace of the punk boat is maybe missing the point. There are many many things that I could have done to make it quicker, these would have either added cost, or detracted from brief of "performance beachboat for the 21st century."
When I was designing it I was obsessed with making it as sailor focused and accessible as possible. I didn't want to feel like I was getting in a boat for a sail, more pulling on a glove. Performance would be a happy byproduct.
For me, the best thing about the punk boat is that it's sufficiently easy, yet engaging, rewarding and inspiring to the ssailor.
I can put it on a car roof, It is a stable as tge laser - I would be happy sending quite small kids out in it, I have gone fishing with my wife in it (we didn't catch anything, but it was fun).
I try to get people out sailing in it whenever possible, and they pretty much always come back smiling regardless of age size or gender. That or feigning politeness. The overwhelming feedback I get is that it is "really easy and nice to sail" and "very well mannered" - I suspect that it's unusual appearance makes people think that it may be a bit belligerent / twitchy / demanding, but it really isn't.
Only capsized a couple of times in 4 years, no problems there, but then I am adept at climbing on boards, my other boat being an I 14. Punk is narrower on deck and lower than most equivalent boats like goslows, plus the mast is light and sealed, so climbing on and righting are straightforward.
Hope that answers a few questions.
Dan



Edited by Daniel Holman - 28 Oct 12 at 7:39am

Some of us sexagenarians ( hey!  a cool sexy word for us old gits ) are still sailing tippy boats - If I don't fall in more than ten times every time I go out I feel cheated. However capsize recovery in a moth is almost as easy as falling in - the board is almost level with the water, you only need to put your foot on the board in the nice angle where the foil meets it, and it comes up. Light winds you can vault over the top, or in a breeze just pull the wing  down, grab the sheet and it pulls you up - no climbing involved.

Originally posted by charlie1019 If you right the boat and end up in the water (but on the plus side with a dry boat!) alot of people find it very hard to get out of the water back in the boat.

The trick is to open a transom flap and let the stern sink until the sailor can get over the corner.

Originally posted by rodney Not disagreeing that Dan would, almost certainly, have won if he was sailing a Laser but the question is would the Laser have been as fast as the Punk around the course?  It looked to me like the Punk had amazing acceleration and was sort of slippery (if you know what I mean).  I'm with iGRF on this one and vote that the Punk 21st Century rocketship (for a una rig, hiking single hander).  Great design Dan and keep up the good work.

No, those guys in the Lasers were no slouch and I did manage to get the EPS ahead of them a couple of times, but the speed that Punk left me off the line in the first race and came through me when I thought I was on or around the right course in one of the races on the second day, left me in no doubt as to it's performance. I have to say I felt it had as much to do with its sail which ideally suited that sort of wind in that sort of environment, so you had the perfect combination a good helm a slippery hull and a soft sail with a quite modern cut which had some features that wouldn't go amiss on a racing sailboard rig which we all know of course are far superior to anything dingy world has ever produced.

Originally posted by 2547 With all due respect to the others Dan was far the best sailor on the start line on form and would probably have done the same in a laser.