I guess Hobie will not in a Formula class, if they can avoid it. They like SMOD, the Tiger has its on class in parallel to the F18. That says a lot. Hence I would not only compare against F16...
In fact, in lighter winds the airflow will stall more easily ...
Opposite: it will stall easier on the smaller sail, since the chord is shorter and hence the Reynoldsnumber is lower. So larger cLmax for the Icat. Furtherore a 16sqm sail with same luff length has 6% more maximum lift due to area. Hence the the Icat has a bit more than 6% additional lift.
Of course it doesnot help beating, but on a run or downwind without spi.
...in big winds the added area will only require more depowering.
yes and it will have more friction drag, hence lower lift/drag ratio and sail lower when beating.
As well, a CFRP in 9m can still be righted by a single sailor, but they didn't use this advantage, the stay at 8.5m. Which means more induced drag (compared against a A-cat for example), so again lower angle while beating, but less heeling moment. That means it can be sailed with more lift in strong winds. On a run, quite useful again.
All that let me think of a boat which is optimised for a run, rather than for upwind-downwind. So not a racer but a fun boat with a lot of bling bling?
Of course one could simply cut the ends of the hulls, but the volume distribution would be not optimum, apart form the fact that wave drag rises anyway with less length (at same displacement).
Where does the weight number comes from? I would wonder if they achieve only 220lb.
Cheers,
Klaus
