Interesting..
Pete Pollard posted a link to an interview with Macca, in which he says the following :
"CS - You also race on M20s, are (with the F20) boats to compare in performance?
Are you crewing the F20 at the Texel Round?
Andrew: The M20 is really a different boat to the Nacra, the costs to build a M20 like the Nacra (jib, curved foils) are more than 40k EURO!!
And now the top M20’s are sporting 3.55m wide beams with no dolphin striker!
In performace the M20 should be faster but in reality its not a huge amount and certainly not 15k Euro quicker! I love sailing the M20, it’s a fantastic boat and a technical wonder, but its jus not a realistic option for 95% of people".
I find this quite an eye-opener, he says that the 15K Euro additional expense doesn`t make the M20 much faster than the Nacra F20, yet he feels quite strongly that the ultimate F16 slayer (that has not been built) will be MUCH faster than the current down-to weight boats. While I don`t disagree in theory with him, I find his "dual citizenship" on the subject quite interesting..
I also find that he feels that such a boat would not be "a realistic option for 95% of people", yet he feels that 'the ultimate F16' will make all others in the class obsolete.
By that logic the M20 will make the Nacra F20 obsolete, which Macca seems to not be too concerned about, whereas he should be, being a Nacra employee/representative, rather than being overly concerned with a class in which his employer is not involved.
Am I missing something here ?
Another thing I find very interesting is that he continually denied any connections with any manufacturer not too long ago, yet this interview brings out some other news - that he has been involved with Nacra in one way or another since 2007.
I guess honesty is not part of the code of conduct for professional sailors, if it doesn`t help them sell their sponsors products.
Steve, its pretty simple: The Nacra F20 makes the M20 obsolete, because its cost effective and one design. The M20 owners have always been outside the group when it comes to creating a class. When have you seen more than 3 M20s with the same spec at a regatta? The Nacra F20 had a bigger fleet at its first event and it would have been bigger if the containers were faster. So the F16 group have to decide if they are a bunch of boat fiddlers like the M20 guys (i love that stuff too) or if you want a class that races? (on the water, not the interweb..)
