thanks Mike -
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<br> Wanted to add this excellent discussion from the open forum for future reference -on WEIGHT -BEAM -effects on design and ratings .
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<br>-The Tornado class has stayed competitive over the years because it is an excellent design. Excellence in design does not age. It was not designed on someone's kitchen table or scratched out in the sand at the end of a stick on a California beach.
<br>Another way the Tornado class has stayed competitive over the years is through weight reduction. Back in the late 1960s and early 1970s, I was sailing a Flying Dutchman. Frequently I went down to the Miami Yatch Club for all class regattas. I was amazed at the speed of the Tornados. They would go really fast but they frequently broke down. I have seen inside these original boats and they were built with fiberglass mat totally, no core and no cloth. These boats weighed 450 to 475 pounds. I have seen these boats weighed on the scales at the MYC. The class minimum weight was 375 pounds. These boats were soft and rubbery and squeeked and squaked in a chop as they twisted and flexed going to windward.
<br>During the past 30 years several improvements have been given to the Tornado class by various builders. Marstrom has probably made the greatest contribution to the Tornado class. His boats are strong and stiff and don't flex in a chop and easily make class minimum weight. This untalked about weight reduction that occurred in the Tornado class has done much to keep this boat competitive over the years.
<br>The other very obvious design feature that makes the Tornado faster than others is the 10ft beam. This is 15% wider than 8.5ft beam boats which converts to 15% more sail thrust. Since thrust equals drag at steady state speed and drag is a function of velocity squared, the 10ft beam becomes a square root of 1.15 speed advantage or 7% faster than 8.5ft boats when the greater righting moment is used. The Tornado Sport PN is presently 59.4 and going down. If I increase 59.4 by 7% I get 63.7 and I just jumped right in the middle of a whole bunch of 8.5ft wide boats. And remember that 59.4 PN is on its way down.
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<br>The easiest way to make a cat going faster is to reduce its weight. A better shaped hull and a faster mainsail can give you only a few 1/10s of knot advantage. Make yr 16' boat 10 kg lighter, and after one hour, for a given speed of 10 knots, it will have to "move" 37 m3 less of water. How many hundreds yards of advantage do you think is all this "volume" worth?
<br>: If it is not true, according to you which is the "secret" of A class cats?
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<br>: My answer:
<br>: 1) If you want to race equally, buy a one-design cat! Someone wrote a few months ago on this Forum: put Mitch Booth on any boat and he will win anyway. If you want to race equally with him or any other better sailor than you, you have to choose an "handicapping" system based on personal
<br>: performance (more wins, more high rating)
<br>: 2) WEIGHT!!!
<br>: 3) Box rules are more advanced because allow lighter boats to race
<br>: 4) Smaller but better built.
<br>: 5)I push the F16HP because it has not an unreasonable minimum weight and allows light boat to race. The BIM 16 with spi weights 95 kg ready to sail. If the Formula 16HP allowed only 130-140 kg boats like the NACRA BLAST, I would not push it.
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