(Engineers chime in here), I would suspect that as crew weight becomes a greater % of total platform weight, the placement of said crew weight becomes more and more critical (think skiffs and foiling moth).

In addition, weight contributes to inertia, so this would help in waves and righting moment, giving an advantage in higher wind/choppy seas somewhat.


I would also suspect that within a certain wind range (say 10kts - 18 kts), a multihull would be very competitive in a wide crew-weight range (300 - 375 lb in the case of the F18, maybe?). Outside of this wind range (really light or really heavy) you'd see some noticable performance differences.

But given these weight/windspeed constraints, I would venture that sailor skill is the dominating factor in race performance.

For me personally, I feel that the smaller the boat, the less forgiving it is to bad weight placement, sail trim, poor transition (tack/gybe) sets/douses, etc. Which is why I'm still a fan of the 20's 'cause it would make even a hack like me fast in most conditions..