<<I don't think a genoa or flying jib (2x) would be out of reach for a schooner provided you could furl the thing.>>
 
  Why not just get a taller mast and put another reef or two in a taller sail?  (or two, if schooner).

  You'll have less than half the work to do each shunt, plus will have more sail area higher up, where the wind is on light days.


<<The advantage of the HP is that there are far fewer details to address but they nevertheless need to go through this process. >>

  That's the first of about five reasons that immediately set me straight every time I start looking at the Dragonfly's again.

  Just one look at the tall mast on a 920, with the multiple diamond stays, head stay, and side stays, with their dozens of points of failure, scares me. 

  What a hassle it would be to inspect all that gear annually, replace it every ten years, and still have to wonder if there's unseen crevice corrosion or a stress fracture that will bring the whole rig down.

  It's hard not to be swayed by the simplicity and lower cost of the Harry (all that stainless and/or titanium costs money), lower air drag and weight, and more importantly, the lack of all those points of failure.

        - Mike

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Posted by: robriley@rocketmail.com

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> Obviously longer length races would not even be needing hardly any shunts.

thats pretty much all I wanted to point out

just to note,
I dont think a genoa or flying jib (2x) would be out of reach for a schooner provided you could furl the thing

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 Posted by: lucjdekeyser@telenet.be

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Granted the direction for the first entry in this thread was not clear.

The thinking was: Jacknife is the first folding HP that is sailing. What would an HP need to cover markets attracted to the farrier f-22, f-33 and dragonfly 25 en 28? Where does it lose some and where does it win some?

Thanks to robriley and some of you much of that is already covered in the replies. So the question is not the grade of finish, shunting vs tacking, the importance of racing etc... The question is more how to answer the perceived needs and possible objections of the different segments of that market with as few variations on the HP theme as possible.

Overall, it does look promising enough but as Rob reminds us repeatedly: the devil is in the details and the established brands have had a much longer time to refine those. The advantage of the HP is that there are far fewer details to address but they nevertheless need to go through this process.