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Well, Circus and Desparado are at the bottom of the Atlantic.... We were nothing more than glorified test pilots, or test dummies. The designers would come to the dock or yard after we came in to see what we had broken, which was our hidden agenda. (Being young, I thought they had a high opinion of our skill...) Tanton, Pedrick, Frers, Chance, they all wanted to see what would really hold up outside of the test tanks. They knew the designs would work, but that the materials might not. So, take the boats to the limits, repair them for a race, get provisioned, pick up the strap hangers, race, repair, start over...
But we were good at breaking boats... dropped rigs, dropped keels, broke rudders, ripped sails, fractured hulls and sunk one. You guys are reaping the benefits of our pushing the limits of what we had available. None of them were all around boats. But we did have a lot of fun.....
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