"... Norm Cross was a friend of mine when I lived in San Diego, and I used to go sailing with him while I was building my Cross 40 RC, which is the one pictured on the Cross website. What a great boat! What you say about being able to move around is true, and I have had the same thought myself on other designs I have seen. I have a 12′ tri with a high performance rig, that is just like you describe. It’s a fun boat, but more work to sail, and I have had my new 14′ model going just as fast, but much easier to sail. In the article, I said these boat were designed for a purpose. They meant to be lightweight, easy to sail, easy get into, for older or inexperienced sailors. They do this very well, and are a pleasure to sail. When you put seats on either side, you lose the ability to paddle, and it’s harder to get into. If I design the boat to be sailed harder, and in rougher conditions, it is going to have to be built heavier, and I don’t want a heavier boat. I don’t want to have to launch the boat off a trailer, at a launching ramp. Every boat is a compromise depending what your priorities are, but these boat are a big improvement over most of the small boats out there. I designed the new 14′ model to be sailed in many different modes, depending on the conditions. One is to have seats on each side that slide out of the way, so I can still paddle. This will allow me to move my weight around, and I’m sure the boat will be faster. I will have a removable tiller when I am using the seats. The seats in this boat will be big enough to sleep on, so I’m going to make a tent for the cockpit, so I can camp on the boat. Adding stays to the windsurfer mast give you better sail shape, and I put a small roller furling jib on, with really improves the performance. But there is a beauty in simplicity on those days when you are lazy, it’s late fall, and getting cold, and you just use the basic rig, get cozy under the cockpit cover, and enjoy a beautiful day out on the water."