Howard, Dawn Patrol IS a Core Sound 20, but with a cabin added. Your point on curved sprits is well taken, but in my experience it has not been a problem. One thing to consider is how light and easily driven Core Sound hulls are. The forces necessary to bend the sprits to any significant degree seem to be well beyond those that would either accelerate the boat off the wind, or heel it significantly when going to weather. Either way, on my boat something other than the sprits is going to be an issue well before they are. Now perhaps that means they are more heavily built than is warranted. When I build the next set, i will try to go much lighter and with the straight sections as you describe to achieve the same stiffness with a lighter build.