I think they are incredibly beautiful. As for the racing models, like any super-high performance machine they can be dangerous when pushed to and past the edge, as happened here.
Catamarans float really well, even upside down. They often have positive flotation in them, so even if they have a hole in them they will float.
This is an unfortunate accident but it's not because the boat is a stupid thing. I watched a few hours of them racing on the bay, they are fantastic exciting racing machines. Like other racing machines like Formula 1 cars, they are somewhat dangerous.
One of my favorite scenes from th new ‘Thomas Crown Affair’ is when they flip the catamarans while racing...