“Sailing has long resisted technological advancement”

From Freep.com – Must read Article submitted by Bob Merrick.
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By ERIC SHARP
FREE PRESS SPORTS WRITER In 1876, Nathaniel Herreshoff entered a 33-foot catamaran called Amaryllis in a New York Yacht Club Centennial Regatta and scared the crap out of the yachting establishment by winning going away.The radical boat, the first of its kind to race in the United States, was amazingly advanced, with touches like ball-and-socket joints at the end of the crossbeams that let the hulls ride the waves independently.After Herreshoff won the race for yachts under 36 feet, the anonymous writer who covered the event for the New York World described Amaryllis as “a nondescript, half-Catamaran , half-Balsa and wholly life-raft constructed by Mr. Herreshoff, of Providence” and that “whether ruled out by the judges or counted in, can justly claim to be the fastest thing of her inches under canvas that floats, and it is doubtful if there are any steamers of her size that could out-speed her in a straight reach with the wind abeam.”….
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