I have to say that on first seeing the add in OP I thought of your alutesque, but taking a closer look I immediately felt that they had missed the boat, or little boat, regarding their understanding of the fish form and buoyancy distribution of the genre.

This obvious and blatant lack of understanding of the basic nature of the craft type lead me to discount their design in my mind altogether. The boat may in fact be a very user friendly craft, but they would have been better off not trying to market it as something it is not and just sold it on its own merrits and its quirky looks.

If I were you I would not be too bothered with the plagiarism. That niche of the seafaring world who hold you in high regard are fully aware of the situation, those who are not are not important to you in any way that really matters. It is annoying, but that is really all it is in the scheme of things.

I suspect that the design is not going to have much of a mass market appeal in any case.

I would send a one paragraph email to the responsible parties with a link to your blog comments. I wouldn't spend ten minutes more than that on it or thinking about it. I suspect that once they realise they have been rumbled they will change their marketing hype. If they don't, so what, life is too short, stop, take a deep breath, move on to the next fun project.

On a final note, I am about to start a project on a strip version of a Dyson 17 footer, and I am seriously considering stealing the rear end off your alutesque. I like an appealing rear end, and that is a particularly appealing one. I promise that you will get a prominent mention.

All the best

Etienne

Etienne