* Gogarty wrote, On 3/29/2007 9:05 AM:
In article ,
says...
You keep saying that, but you seem to have trouble finding cases of
them going over.
There are many, some of them of very famous people in very famous round the
world races. It's why competition cats have an escape hatch in the bottom.
They trip on big waves when broaching and go all the way over --
permanently.
Competition boats are in a whole different category. You might just
as well say cars are dangerous because so many crash in a simply 200
mile race. Neal has frequently claimed that the fate of every
cruising cat is to capsize, when in fact its hard to find more than a
handful of cases.
If you could invent a sailcloth that functions as a solar panel, you'd
really have something!
I have no doubt that it will be done. One type of solar cell is an amorphous
crystal, meaning it is essentially glass. Modern high-tech sails are not
made from woven fabrics but laminated sheets. Could not one of those
laminates be amorphous solar cells?
Someday, and probably within 50 years.