For this reason I never understood why Marstrom and even Eagle remained at the 20 foot hull length...... [color:"red"] Dive stability is not that much of a problem [/color] as the reduction in drag causes the sailforce to reduce as well and in in this example a 19 foot hull on the lighter boat will still have exactly the same dive resistance as the heavier 20 foot hulls when running the numbers on the complete boat while sailing.
Ok, I gotta call BS on the stability bit.... I've sailed F18 and I-20 and the stability comparison.... ha ha ha!!! There is none! That two feet (10%) means a lot in survivability. I think that there is a reason the fastest boats out there are bigger and the designers are fully aware of the reasons.
Just on a quick view, 20' boats were the first 4 finishers in the 2004 Texel. Also consider that 7 of the top 10 boats in round texel were 20'. One thing you can't argue with is results. I don't see that any 18' boats have any Worrell/Tybee records. There has got to be something to it..... Hmmmmmmmmmmmmm........ Design numbers mean one thing, but on the water performance is another. IMHO
