Lots of information from two guys who haven't been actively racing catamarans in a couple years.
Quick update from airport while en route home from catacup.
Bora: came to look at two boats in stock, took first one, picked up another a few months later without even asking to look at another boat. He wanted two boats to train and race in different places
Sarah and Mike: both took new boats without even asking to look at other boats.
I'd bet the 17 would be faster in quite a few conditions than the tornado.
The boat was never designed to foil, some slight modifications have been made to handle the loads sailors have been introducing.
If you guys want a comparison point, look at the evolution of the 49er, almost same evolution with multiple major hull mods, rig changes and etc. it's the nature of a high performance boat being pushed to the extreme extreme limit, something they almost no sailors on this forum can fathom, heck I can't even keep up with it.