Hi Skier,
What does "really fast" mean relative to the Eagle 18 and 20? As I recall the Texel race 2004, the Eagle 20 beat the Tornado by about 2 minutes out of a 2hr and 41 minute race. That is 1.2% higher average speed around the 60 mile race course. I would be tempted to call that even. A 1.2% speed advantage is within the noise. How do we know that the Eagle 20 sailors weren't responsible for that 1.2% margin? When I was designing and building beach cats, I learned that if I built a boat for a target market, that boat had to be at least a 5% faster design so that when that boat got in the general publics hands, it still came out as a winner, a faster boat. A 2% to 3% faster design got lost in the noise.
What I see that we have now is two new 20ft boats of the same performance level as the Tornado. And the two new boats are 100 to 150 pounds lighter in weight than the Tornado and they cost five thousand dollars more than the Tornado. Are we getting ahead? Is technology really advancing? If the Tornado PN is 59, I want to see that 20ft boat with a PN of 56, 5% lower than the Tornado. Now that would be advanced technology and "really fast"!
Good Sailing,
Bill