Thank you, all. Mike, you may have added a chapter to Shuttleworth’s treatise.
The individual appreciation of risk is an endless discussion; and the insurance companies’ appreciation does not seem to have generated a booming business for them. I consider myself warned.
I’ve long accepted the inherent safety advantages of the HP designs. But as Rick wrote:” It is a matter of identifying the risks as best as possible then designing to mitigate them and ultimately operating within those constraints. Understanding and testing the limits are a challenge particularly on a developmental design.” And hibernating till that development is done is not an option.
As a thought experiment in the extreme I imagine the ww hull to be a free fall lifeboat, the rig to be limited in size as to not cause a capsize when kept sheeted, up to, what, 60 knots of wind, and explosive bolts that automatically demast beyond that. There goes fast, simple and light.
I have not found much about the difference between flat vs round bottom in this respect – I suspect that the sharpness of the outside corner of the chine could be the determinant factor.
Luc