[manderx]

Sorry, but I just hate it when people say that. I may not own a Ferrari 430, and I may not own a Ariel Atom (but I may in a year), but I can still tell you that an Ariel Atom will run circles around the Ferrari even though it costs 1/4 as much. How? Observation,

you can't even begin to make a comparison between cars and skimmers. you can lookup hard facts on cars. you know it's horsepower, torque, 0-60,... skimmers are a different beast, with no such hard numbers. sure you can compare body size, air, water,... but that only gets you partway. doesn't equate to real-world performance since it's the little details that make or break a skimmer design.

I have seen both units in action now a few times, so thats what Im going with

so we're supposed to trust your assumptions over someone else's hands-on day in day out experience? enough of us have read enough of your posts to know what they are worth. (i'm still looking for that magical floating acrylic that is 1/8th the density of water)

Just because the mechanic who services them doesnt own one... does that make his opinion any less?

well, since a mechanic has his hands inside them, knows what tends to break on them, and understands the workings better than the owners of course his opinion would mean something. doesn't mean i would automatically trust his opinion on a car he's only seen a picture of on the internet though. are you trying to compare yourself to a (skilled) mechanic?