I hate to revisit this topic after the last thread where I got a little upset about people saying that small catamarans (20-foot max) cannot go faster than 22 knots. Now I have to say that this claim about 33 knots also seems totally unrealistic at the high end. The following is quoted from a story on the US Sailing website:

"The Tornado sailboat has the ability to reach speeds of 15-18 knots upwind and downwind, and 33+ knots reaching!"

It's ridiculous! I think the max possible speed (without hydrofoils) is somewhere in between, probably in the 25-26-27-knot range at absolute max, in high winds on flat water.

P.S. Why can't we get some good, on-water data on this so we don't have to operate on a myth basis?