Sorry for the slow comment, but we're in the French Alps with WiFi problems.
It was interesting to read David Harding's report in Practical Boat Owner (PBO) comparing Amiina and Whisper. He makes a number of varied comparisons, and gives both rigs good constructive criticism.
It’s clear that it’s going to be difficult to break the well earned cliché and convince the world that a junk rigged boat can sail as fast to windward as a Bermudan boat. Amiina didn’t do it on this occasion, and even though David Harding did state that Whisper was an expensively prepared boat he did not state in his conclusion that, “Sailing against Whisper would be a challenge for any Splinter!” which I understand he has written elsewhere. In some respects this was a case of comparing an early Austin Mini with a home made engine with a tuned Mini Cooper, or in American terms, a standard saloon car with 'The General Lee' as driven by the Dukes of Hazard.
We had no help when we came to draw a rig for Amiina. When I approached some sailmakers in an effort to find out about the rigs being used they would not even tell me the sail area being used, and it was clear that the racing boys were being very secretive. I had to contact the Van de Stadt design office who told me that the Splinter used 220 sq.ft, so that was what we used for Amiina. It was only when Edward started sailing that he found the boat to be rather tender, and over canvassed, and when he got his handicap for the 2013 Round the Island Race that we then discovered that the Bermudan boats are being raced with only about 175 sq.ft. This resulted in sailing this year's race with the miss-shapen rig with the top panel removed. Even though the ultra light wind killed the race, Edward's performance in getting round the Needles showed that he was outperforming many other faster boats, some of which didn't even get through Hurst narrows, let alone approach the Needles.
When building the split rig for Poppy I wanted the windward performance to be as good as comparable average cruising boats, and in general sailing find that I achieved this aim while retained all the off wind advantages. The last time I tried I turned onto the transom of a Folkboat, but before I could form a conclusion he tacked and rolled up his headsail to motor. Bermudan don’t seem to sail to windward!. It's not going to be easy to convince the Bermudan Boys that the junk rig is coming up in performance as they will always be able to find a more highly tuned Bermudan racing boat to compare with. It's noticeable that Steve, the owner of Whisper did not sail her in this years race possibly because he was reported to have broken a couple of ribs as a result of a gybe. That's a painful reminder that Whisper's Bermudan rig has some significant disadvantages.
Edward must be congratulated for the publicity he is getting for the rig in the boating press and in two of the top four national daily newspapers the weekend after the Island race.
Cheers, Slieve. (Good grief, my wine glass is empty, again!)