as I said in my last two postings. There are slow monohulls. Some have tragic upwind performance. I was responding more to Larry's post. Racing results are the only reliable empirical evidence of speed (and these are "cruising" races). And the Dragonfly bears little resemblance to the Alpha: centerboard, low conservative house, low freeboard, 12,000 lbs (claimed) displacement compared to stub keels, towering and massive house, very high bows and freeboard, 21,000 lbs (claimed) displacement. These things are death to windward ability. I compared the Alpha to the J133 because they are similar length, and both liberally sprinkle the terms "performance cruiser" throughout their literature. The J lead mine weighs 3000 lbs less, while carrying the same sail area, the fin is twice as deep, the windage on the hull probably 1/3.

Larry, I'll probably never get the opportunity, but I would put $100 on the J133 vs the Dragonfly on an upwind leg, in a seaway, at even odds. Reaching in some wind and flat water - well then I would take the Dragonfly....

*Disclaimer: I speak as a jilted lover. I once was drinking the coolaid, was even discussing delivery dates for a new Atlantic 42. I had bay sailed on a couple of very light local cats and it seemed pretty good. Then I chartered a cat for several days and demo sailed the 42. The hoped for performance was illusory. That caused me to investigate - in depth - the available evidence of the speed of cruising cats. They are great cruising boats for a lot of reasons, but a large average speed advantage over a modern monohull is not one of those reasons, and certainly not windward ability. Chris White suggested that what I was looking for I might find in a trimaran, but I have never sailed on one.