As with other Advanced Sharpies, the curve of the chine is symmetrical in both dimensions - as the boat heels, the underwater shape stays much the same.  Also like other Advanced Sharpies, looks better on the water than in plan or on the trailer, though you have to cope with that wide open "Jaws" look. Fast and slippery.

"It sails and motors like a dream.  Motoring is easy because of so little wetted surface.  Turns on a dime - skids around a bit, though. My main problem (was) submarining: shallow, choppy waters on the Chesapeake and the AS19 will dig into the oncoming chop when it gets out of synch.  But then Bolger warned that it was for protected waters - which the Chesapeake sure ain't..."

Here's Patrick Crockett's account of the initial sailing trials:
 

"We went out on North Carolina's Lake Jordan in the company of some folks in Mike's cruising club (on Hunters, MacGregors and such).  The wind was great - we tied in a reef and could have used a second reef when going to windward.

"The boat sailed well on all points - was very well behaved, in fact. Quite forgiving.  The tiny rudder with bottom plate was more than adequate - I found I tended to oversteer with it.  It was easier for me to hold the tiller still and steer with the mizzen.

"We managed to get the boat heeled over almost to the rail a couple of times (by not noticing that the main was oversheeted) and never really felt unstable.  Once we dipped the end of the boom in the water in a gust, and still did not feel like we were in danger of going over. (I'm a dinghy sailor - I'm used to boats turning over soon after the rail hits the water.)  We got mud on the bottom of one of the leeboards, but did not notice it at the time.  I certainly notice every time I get mud on the daggerboard in my Windsprint!

"In the choppy water, heeled over, the boat sounded like any other sharpie - thump, thump, thump.  Some waves do come into the open bow transom, but they did not seem to affect our progress.  Maybe they were just thick spray.

"One caution about a boat like this - when setting up and taking it down in the parking lot, as much time is spent talking to strangers as actually working on the boat.  The attention is almost as much fun as the sailing..."

And from Mike Stockstill, an account of the AS19 seeing the sea (without joining the navy)... 

"If you want to follow along in your hymnal, page P246 in the 1999 Reed's Nautical Almanac shows my route. On October 15 I put the boat in at the wildlife ramp in Beaufort, NC around noon. On the chart in Reed's, north is to the right - the ramp is just to the north of the T in Beaufort, which doesn't show in the book. The wind was steady at around 18 knots blowing from the NW. I then headed south down Town Creek, which is the channel just above Bird Shoal on the chart. Both leeboards up, I was easily making hull speed as I scooted passed the boats on the town docks. The NC Maritime Museum is about where the MAR appears, and as the boat passed some of the boat shop volunteers stopped working and came out to have a look as I passed. 

"Smooth easy sailing as I made the turn to the NE heading out Morehead City Channel. Between the '16' and the '13' is where the ride gets the choppiest. I took some good splashes in the bow well, with no trouble to the boat. I did find though that I needed to remove the small items that tried to wash out of the bow well. Once I turned E/SE going out Beaufort Inlet Channel to the sea, the chop stopped and was replaced by pleasant 3 foot swells. With the wind behind me like that, I did take some pretty heavy scoops of water in the bow well. However, the boat did not once stagger, as the attitude at which it would make the biggest scoop is the attitude at which it had the greatest momentum, so it kept right on going. I should have furled the mizzen however, as all that push from behind combined with a heavy nose due to the wind astern made the rudder much less effective. I think I had a single reef in the main. 

"I went out about as far as the '8', far enough to say I was on the ocean, and then turned around and headed back in. Beating in such waves, I found that scooping was even less of a problem, and I don't think I took any big bites at all. I set the sails, locked down the rudder and let the boat steer itself - I sat back and relaxed. The boat tends to zigzag a bit when self steering, but since I have never had a boat that would self steer, perhaps that is normal. 

"Moral - even without any bow cover or 'door', the AS-19 shows no sign of problems in reasonable sailing conditions. It is a great little boat, and it inspires many questions from those who take a look at it. And, I'm quite happy to oblige them." Mike has more photos on his page