"This Nacra 17 will have great performance, significantly better than an F18 or F16 and probably better than a Tornado in most conditions." from the catsailingnews blog


What I find interesting is that the results of this regatta seem to confirm the Texelrating for the curved foil full carbon Nacra 20 in relation to the F16's (and F18's) with aluminium masts.

Honestly, Xander Pols is certainly no a slough and neither is Greg/Christa or several of the other crews sailing.

Of course this regatta provides incidental evidence at best but it doesn't appear that the curved foils or indeed all the carbon in the world is giving the Nacra 20 speed potential beyond what is predicted by Texel on weight, length, rig type and sail area alone. Or at least not a difference that is statistically obvious.

Therefor I doubt whether the new Nacra 17 will deliver significantly better performance because of its specs alone (as taken from various blogs). Contrary to the latest marketing. Indeed, Texel prediction has the new N17 at a rating of 101 whereas the F18's are at 100 and the F16's are at 102. Never mind the Tornado at 94.

Clearly a 2 point difference between the F18's and F16's means bugger all on the water if we look at the (elapsed) results. So how significant will a single point in performance be especially when the O-class will race SMOD anyway ?

I wonder.