Good history lesson on the original beams...explains why our F18's are such pigs.

The top A-Cat in the world right now is arguably the DNA. It does not have a striker on the beam! When you go to a C-cat, AC45, AC72 etc. the loads are much higher than on the smaller boats, the structure is physically much larger and yes a triangle striker will be lighter.

I suspect there is enough weight budget in the F16 class rules that a carbon front beam can be made to work and this is more aerodynamic than the triangle beam, plus better from a wave slapping standpoint. This of course is more costly. That is why IMO the F16 class needs to tighten down the class rules and follow the F18 lead in some ways on this issue as you continue to build fleets-no one wants an all-carbon F16 class killer.

Last edited by samc99us; 09/13/13 09:13 AM.

Scorpion F18