Points well made, Niel…the hard part comes after building the hull!
I have thought about the swing rig, of course. Experience here hasn’t shown them to be an advantage. My gut says that a good MCRig vs. a good swing rig is a draw. Of course, in the case of Ice, the rig was designed by the guy that is credited with inventing swing rigs. Anything Roger does is tough to beat. As you pointed out, his design and execution are impeccable, and backed up by decades of experience. I wish Graham Eliot would have been in Wroclaw with the original Moonshadow, or that the once-discussed showdown between the top UK boats would have happened.
Several of us have been saying for a few years now that, given variety of hull shapes that have been successful, it’s rigs and foils that will make the difference. Roger seems to think so, too…and perhaps has proven the point.
Bill