Rolf

Bundy told me... dump the Tornado... get a Tiger.. five years before I finally dumped the T.

His advice... the T spin changes were designed to keep the international fleet at the same crew range as the classic T. ...The F18 occupied the same market for crews and was just getting going in AUS and the USA. His point... it was cheaper and easier to manage the boat on a trailer and sailed well on the water dump the T and get the Tiger and a 150 lb crew. It will be the dominant spin class

(My judgement was the F18 would not take off in the USA like gangbusters and did not follow his advice... that call was accurate)

IMO There is no advantage for a 20 footer at 8 foot 6 inches wide if you want to build an all around boat.

I would love for a designer to tell us how to do this at 8 foot 6 inches in beam.... what boat weight... what stick height and bend characteristic would do it. Seems to me that what is needed is a 20 footer that captures the full crew weight range. 320 to 420 + lbs.

I think the requirements gives you a 9 foot wide boat with the right mast/sail.

Take a page from hobie... the TheMightyHobie18 overlapped the H16 class (and grew), the Hobie 20 overlapped the H16-18 class and grew).... Trying to carve out your niche above the popular F18/F16 niche leaves you with too small market.