Is it fun? Absolutely!
Is it fast? Absolutely!
Would I want to race it? Absolutely not! Well, not with the sailboard rig.
Sitting out on the wings certainly beats hiking, and as long as you've got 5 knots of wind or more the boat is a pleasure to sail. Less than that and you're crouching in the front (where most of the floatation is) wishing you'd never left shore. The photo's above were taken at the 2007 Ottawa Skiff Grand Prix, where I was wishing there was more breeze! The light weight of the boat (something around 70 pounds for the hull, probably under 100 lbs rigged and on the water) makes for fast acceleration and great gust response. Very effortless sailing.
The sailboard rig obviously has its limitations. Its slow to put it all together and hang shrouds off of it etc before getting on the water. Fine for a cottage boat, but limiting if you only have a bit of time for a sail after work. And it desperately needs a vang of some sort to get leech tension on the sail. None the less, it makes for very fast and effortless sailing when reaching back and forth across the lake.
The spinnaker has been played with a bit, but the systems there still need to be sorted out before trying it in much wind.
The pictures below are with my business partner Dave out in 10 knots or so of wind. Oh for a boom vang!
The boat is absolutely a success. Experiments will continue, with the plan to put a more conventional main sail onto it. A carbon mast will remain a necessity to keep the overall weight down.