Just one thing about beam size... The width of the boat controls the size of the beams.... The length is irrelevant. There is little difference between the width of the F16 and the F18. Hence, if you want a stiff F16, you will need to have beams very similar to those used on a stiff F18..... OR go for CARBON... and accept that price tag!
WRONG !
The flexing of the beams is determined by the size of the crossse...... etc etc (Not going to include the whole quote here)
Wouter
Wouter - I find it very interesting that you so strongly disputed my comment...
I recently discussed this issue with Greg Goodall, and his comment was that when you put a 130+kg of crew weight on the back beam, then the main factors influencing the twist of the boat is the "unsupported beam length" (ie the distance from inner gunwale to inner gunwale), and the distance between the front and back beam.
These distances are very similar on both the F18 & F16. He finished by saying that you MAY get away with making the beams upto 15% smaller without having a significant impact on the stiffness.
Wouter - I challenge you to prove all your theories - DESIGN & BUILD that F16 that will be FASTER than any of the current F16's....
Up until then, sorry, but I will tend to take the advice from Greg Goodall in preference to your views.
