I managed to get out today and was experimenting with the Mirage drive. I believe pedalling it make a substantial difference. It was quite gusty today with choppy water. I have invested in a Velocitek speed puck
http://www.velocitek.com/products/speedpuck which has proven to be very useful. I was averaging around 6 knots today with a recorded max of 8 Knots. It was too rough to get any real speed up and kept burying the bow and Amas into waves that constantly knocked a lot of speed off. I found I could point probably 10 degrees higher if I peddled.
I experimented with the dagger board up and the Mirage blades down. I found it didn't point as well as the dagger board and also lost speed, presumably due to drag. As I see it, unless you have them both exactly in alignment, the front blade will cause turbulence that is then stirred up further by the rear blade. Also the blades do not sit flat so they will twist wherever they feel like going. They do offer lateral resistance but at the expense of speed. I found it faster with the blades separated and flat against the hull, although I am interested in trying them hanging down at 45 degrees or so and see if that makes any difference. I also tried the dagger board and the Mirage fins down whilst trying to point in quite strong winds, I believe it helped a bit with lateral slippage, but I still couldn't point anywhere near as high as a standard monohull. The rudder was constantly being overpowered in strong gusts whilst going upwind.
I believe we will see a few more down here next season, it is attracting a lot of attention.
My next move will be some tramps. I can't use the full width setup as I often need to quickly fend it off mudbanks with the paddle when the wind blows it sideways onto the mud when I am trying to take pictures of the seals I am helping to monitor. The channel isn't wide enough to anchor easily. I think Pirates design looks the best bet for what I need and the spray skirt at the front will also be very useful. Are you going to have any for sale Pirate?