A wood Tornado can do well at national events, but sadly the Tornado class is very, very, small at that level. It is not the boat which is fast but the sailors, you know <img src="http://www.catsailor.com/forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif" alt="" />
Before getting lost in dreams about clear coated wood, think through why you want to build and see if you have the right motivation. If "money" and "looks" are on top of the list, I would advice you to buy something instead.
True enough to think about. I did pretty well in Miami Key Largo (3rd in class, 11th over the finish) and corrected out in front of a Tornado Sport with a more than highly skilled crew. The best part was that I was just happy toi have finished the race with no break downs, and no blood spilled. There are however more hard parts on the boat than I remember from my competetive days int he late 80s-early 90's.
