I started sailing when I was about 7 years old in a 9' Dyer Dhow in Dinner Key, in Coconut Grove(Miami) ,Fl. where my family lived on a boat.
Went from the Dyer to the 19' Fish Class as well as crewing on a Flying Dutchman and E-scow in Pensacola. Graduated to a Windmill(1586) in which I won the Southeastern District Championship in Montgomery ,Alabama in 1965 and then got third the next year trying to defend the title.
Won quite a few trophies racing and enjoyed it tremendously. Started building models young-one which I remember was a free sailing cat rigged with a trapeze that was faster than my Windmill in about 6 knots of wind-that was the begining of a lifelong passion for designing and building sailboats and working in the marine industry.
I've designed an experimental 14' trimaran(80sq.ft./60lb)-which actually only had buoyancy pods(1 cu' total buoyancy) instead of what could reasonably be called "amas". Designed and built an experimental 20' tri with a planing main hull that was a lot of fun. Designed an 18' daysailor/weekender(did all tooling as well) of which 80 were built by T-Craft boats and designed and patented the "worlds first catamaran windsurfer"(I think) -the Kona Kat of which 180 were built in 1980-1(did all tooling here as well). Designed the "Tantra" in 1975- used a squaretop main- which is the first time I remember seeing one.
I designed, built and patented a flying system for small helicopters that allowed a slightly modified rc helicopter to fly to out of sight ranges.
From about 1992-2007 I have been involved in designing ,building and marketing a line of rc sailboats that still set the mark for "reality" in RC sailboats: the designs featured the first production rc spinnaker system and the first production rc foiler,the F3.
I was lucky enough to be able to do some R&D work with Dr. Sam Bradfield on his 40' SKAT-where he converted one of my large trimaran platforms to a test model for the SKAT foil system. The experience was absolutely lifechanging: to see what could be done with hydrofoils and to learn so much from a truly great teacher.
I've designed,built sailed and foiled my own 16' monohull foiler which used a manual foil control system. The hull design was not satisfactory to me and there were problems with the control system but it was a hell of a learning experience! Since then I've done a number of projects including starting my second monohull foiler platform that will actually be three boats in one. The idea is to have a basic platform with interchangeable parts that will allow a 22' foiler, a 22' trimaran with planing amas and a 22' Trapwing experimental movable ballast boat. All these variations use foils to one degree or another and the plan is to get the hardware built and be able to spend huge amounts of time sailing instead of building. I should have a whole lot of fun and learn a lot over the next five years while I explore these ideas.
Thanks to my experience with Dr. Bradfield I've sailed a Rave a lot and coupled with the limited foiling on my own 16 footer I can tell you that foiling is one of the most thrilling things you can do on the water! Try it on any boat you can. And keep in mind these are early days in the bi-foiler revolution-don't buy into the "its too hard" bull or that crap about having to walk a foiler out to deep water. The newer boats will be much more user friendly and yes,it is a revolution!
--------------------------------------------
--------------------------------------------
There must be an awakening in this country to the perverse attack on the values that make this country great by the likes of Beck, Hannity Limbaugh and a few others who are trying to usher in a new era of McCarthyism. These people deliberately misrepresent the facts in the healthcare debate(and every other issue). They collectively are yelling "Fire!" in a crowded theater. Because they have an extremely large audience of gullible people who take their word as gospel they are very real threats to what this country stands for. They must be exposed and stopped. They,collectively, are the new McCarthy.
Harry Truman, in the 50's knew this type of political demagoguery. Here's what is attributed to him about McCarthyism:

"It is the corruption of truth, the abandonment of the due process law. It is the use of the big lie and the unfounded accusation against any citizen in the name of Americanism or security. It is the rise to power of the demagogue who lives on untruth; it is the spreading of fear and the destruction of faith in every level of society."

--------------------