Tornados beat planing 18-foot skiffs around the buoys, but the 18-foot skiffs seem to exhibit the highest absolute absolute top speeds.
Higher top speeds as quoted by Bethwaite..... Even the Skiffies take what he says with a grain of salt. I believe he also quoted a rediculous max speed for a Tasar once (over 20 knots from memory).
I wounder why the 18s have never done any form of measured speed runs....... Hard to BS timed runs.
Thats very interesting. You have raced the 18s on several occations, haven't you? From your experience, how do the 18s compare downwind? Also interesting that even the skiff sailors have a hard time believing this. As already posted, I think Bethwaite claims a top speed for the skiffs well above 30 knots.. That been said, if I'm not terribly mistaken, I do believe that the official Tornado site claimed the top speed of the Tornado to be around 30 knots as well. To me that seems a bit high. Though I did believe the skiffies would achieve speeds in excess of (at least) 25 knots..?
