Bill's boat is fantastic. I got a good look and a tour a few months ago--and I have been driving by every few weeks and looking at the progress. Congratulations on getting her in the water--sorry that it is taking longer than anticipated--but it is a huge and beautiful project! Where is the new yard? Lift: The Tom Cat hull and wing deck are very similar to the AeroCat's. I suspect that the Aero Cat's (at least the fast boats) have the same principle. of lift. My observation on the Tom Cat is that even with a 3 foot chop it there is a lot of slamming. I would suspect the same for the AeroCat. Our experience in the Tom Cat, is that we have a 12 mile fetch and often have winds of 20 to 30 knots coming down Perdido Bay where we live. This gives a 3 foot chop. and it is very difficult to make way at 8 to 10 knots. Once we get on a plane, the ride improves dramatically---the boat rises level--as we increase speed--the ride smooths out with no slam or sneeze. The best ride is at 35 mph--against a 30 to 35 mph breeze, there has to be some lift effect, since there is a foil shaped surface on the underside of the wing deck,plus some narrowing of the tunnel from the bow to about 1/3 aft--this is like a funnel. Under these circumstances there is a 55 to 65 mph head wind effect, which is channeled into the tunnel. I don't have the back ground in aerodynamics to know if this is hull water effect, ram air effect, pressure increase or air cushion--but it works. AeroCat: I have had some correspondence with AeroCat--with the possibility of having one of their "trawlers" built. I asked about using a Suzuki 90 vs the Honda 50 that was recommended--and was told that was not possible because Suzuki 90 only comes in a 20" shaft (that is not true)--but that the Etec was a preferable engine. What is true is that the Etec weight is 100 lbs less than the Suzuki and that might be a reason to buy it. I was not impressed with the line drawing sent to me--it appears to be conceptual and rough. My question of why they advertised two forward, two on a dinette and "owners stateroom aft"--was not answered (and is probably not possible). My other questions were answered to my satisfaction. The issue I might be concerned with on the Nadicore hull would be crushing from an impact. I have seen this on a Camano 30 and on a MotorCat, where a piling was banged, and the core compressed, leaving a dent in the outer glass, with stress cracks. Where we used Nadicore on a deck--there was no print through after the one layer of 1.5oz mat . But we did add two layers of 12 oz triaxial cloth over the mat, so our final laminate is substantial. I would want to see how the AeroCat performs at displacement speeds in 2.5 to 3 foot seas. We may be considering an AeroCat for our West Coast boat--if its trailering weight can come in at less than 7,000 lbs--and the layout we want. It is interesting to note that apparently the same jigs are being used for the 16 through the 26 foot boat. The beam is the same 8'6". The price goes up $1,000 for each two feet of hull length: $8,000 for a 16 footer up to $12,000 for a 26 footer. Quite a bargin for the unfinished hulls. Of course there is a lot more to a completely finished boat. The boats are not gel coated--they are semi gloss painted according to what I was told. (Epoxy resin, so that is expected). Bob Austin