Capt. Rob wrote:
But seriously, what are you going to do now that you know that your
new boat is such a dog in light air it needs and extra 24 seconds/mile
handicap to stay with the Catalinas and Hunters?


Are you suggesting that a Catalina 36 or 34 will sail faster in light
air??? Do tell.


I only have the numbers to go by - there are several Catalinas whose
ratings are only about a dozen seconds slower than your boat. The
bendy, however, needs a huge handicap to catch up - 12 to 14 seconds
more than various Catalinas. What its saying is that the rating of
the 35s5 is really about the same as the Catalina 34 and 36 in light
air.

This isn't my "opinion," these are the facts. For opinions, you can
find numerous people who say that the bendy is hard to sail to its
potential, and requires high skills of both helm and crew. You're the
one who claimed the rating is actually too low and "average" skippers
have trouble winning because of that.

Further, your mylar sails doesn't count for much - you could add those
to any boat. Can you point to your long experience winning races with
fractional rigs? The light air difference between the bendy and your
old C&C with you at the helm may be too small to measure.

Now if you really wanted a light air cruiser, you could have had this
for $64,000:
http://www.sailinganarchy.com/classi...p40_bquest.jpg
PHRF of about 42, with a light air adjustment of -26, for a net rating
of 16.