Hi DICK L, and welcome also.I do agree with your project of getting a simple design put together,and using as many GOOD ideas as can be put forward so that they can be sorted out and used or not.As you have no doubt gathered the foamy hulls that my mate came up with are superb for testing,but they can only give variations on an ellipse which has been good for what we wanted.From it all we found we had invented a thing we call a WHEEL !!!!!???? I think this is what progress runs on ?Stability in most weathers,a fair turn of speed,and in the end a good test bed.It cost approx. £100 [not including radio gear]to put together,including a brand new hull with the fin box and rudder tube,[a Dave Cread 1M Slim Chance hull]We used an arm winch for the snappy response and easy of setting up.
We decided the swing rig was ideal,quick to change rigs,we heard reports of them been tricky to use etc.,This I feel that has been disprooved by the fact we use them at all times and have no trouble at all with them.Perhaps this is because we now use dumpy rigs
except for the top rig.The dumpy rig has a masthead jib with a large fully battened mainsail, which has junk style battens[very stiff].
It is too stiff for medium winds unless there are heavy gusts up in the 20knt region.the area of this middle rig is about 830 sq ins.It is not much more than 1metre tall.If you click my gallery you will see photos to give you an idea of what I mean.Also if you go to www.rcuvideo and type in Klingon 5 you will find 2 short videos of my multi with top rig which is roughly 930sq ins.I hope that gives you enough info for now.If you have any questions I will be happy to supply answers especially on our flexy rig or our flexing cross beams which greatly help stability in gusty weather.Regards Scotty