My point was that most here do not seem to question the upwind performance of traditional "blue water" monohulls when questioning whether catamarans are sufficiently windward capable for offshore passages. In other words, many of the boats I listed cannot go well to windward either. Your racing examples and specific cherry-picked boat comparisons are non-sensical. How about considering a 50' Outremer against a 50' gulfstar? That is equally non-sensical.

The helmsman has more to do with sailing efficiency than the boat most times. I doubt you were on a similar design to the Alpha, as that boat has rather unique design features. It is more likely you do not have enough experience with catamaran designs to know the differences. I have been beat by those gaffer workboats down there many times - they are running engines with big square props while undersail. They beat everyone down there - they are primarily opportunistic powerboats.

BTW, at this year's Staniel Cay Bahamas race, two cruising catamarans lapped the entire mono fleet in a race that included 4 windward beats and 2 runs in 20kt winds. The favorite to win was a 55' racing mono that was blitzed upwind by the catamarans.

I don't draw too many conclusions from that - no more than I draw from your example. How about you?

Mark