Alto - Why?

FWIW I haven't seen one, and my views on canting pole asymmetrics (and to an extent asymmetrics in general) have been gone over elsewhere. But frankly surely the question is why not? The point is everyone has their own views and their own irrational attachments. If we all looked at everything dispassionately, most of us would probably be sailing something else. But we don't. There is a human reaction that can't be quantified or readily explained. Sometimes you just see something and the little lightbulb goes of in your head. In GRFs case he has very firm ideas about what he wants from a boat, in terms of suitability to where he sails, along with what he wants from the rig. The Alto meets his criteria. He is buying one. Would I buy one, no. But we are starting to sound like stereotypical dodgy workmen, sucking in of breath... 'that pole system looks a bit weak... tut tut....' It wouldn't be the first boat that had teething problems, and if it has them, it won't be the last...
And ultimately it is a boat that someone wanted to build for their own reasons, not someone offering vast promises of racing circuits, outlandish claims of utility and performance, only to leave everyone swinging in the wind if sales do not meet expectation.

I'll shut up now...

As an aside, the first Benedict design 14 that Dave Ovington built was built with a pivoting centreboard rather than a daggerboard because of concerns about launching and recovery...

Its howling today, we're getting 50 kt gusts, not that I'm considering the
remotest possibility of sailing in anything like this, but at our all up crew
weight of 150kgs, what's the general feeling on the rig specs.

Main 10.5, Jib 3.75, Kite 15.5, at what wind threshold do y'all think we'll
start having problems? Should it have a smaller rig? Or should there be a
smaller rig option...

Funny what windy days do to your psyche..

I'm surprised at how small the kite is, it's about the same size as a 29er one.

Edited by Alex C

We lost 1 race at our Lyme 2004 Nationals (still talked about through pint glasses in the bar) which was completely unraceable in about 28 knots. So I guess that we are a fair 15 knots beyond that...!