Hi ACat144,

First of all, calling someone on this forum ignorant is uncalled for.

Second, My evaluation of the robustness or fragility of an A-Class cat as a family beach cat was not done from an armchair, but by personally going out and sailing 3 different models over a 1 year period (which brands I will not mention as they were fine boats for their purpose and I don't want to discredit them on a public forum). I also test sailed and raced a Taipan 4.9 several times, and it was a very close second.

I've owned 6 catamarans since 1985, all purchased new. All were purchased with much thought and deliberation, as was my last purchase. The fact that the A-class made it to my top 3 is a credit to the boat. Would you put 4 people on your $14,000 A-class and beach land it without wheels or cradles? I doubt it. The boat was not designed for that.

I'm also curious in what the price difference was between your P-19 and the Marstrom Torndado? I suspect you could buy two P-19's for the price of the Tornado. The P-19 was and is a fine boat for the price. The delaminations you describe may have been caused by poor maintentance practices, such as storing it without drying out the hulls, etc... I've never had a boat delaminate, and I live in an area where it goes below freezing frequently and for long periods of time. The boats I've owned and sold are still in my area, and they are all going strong. They were raced hard, including about 10 Down-the-bay regattas (150 miles) and 6 Chesapeake 100's. The boats often got me some hardware, including a first place.

In the future, keep your derogatory comments to yourself.

Steve