As pr. Wouters request, here are the stiffness data (Supplied by Marcus):



The thing about foam/glass, is that it is easier to produce a identical product every time. Timber as an material can differ some between lot #'s. Besides, how many would buy a wooden boat today, in what is marketed as a high-tech sport?

Regarding the F-18 class, I think it was Gøran Marstrøm who said that they made the boat to heavy, he tought it should have been lighter..
Looking at the positive side of it, if the boat is overbuildt, it should last a long time

Wood has excellent cyclic loading properties, better than fibreglass unless the fibreglass panels are overbuildt (the fibres works loose from the matrix).

I think 20 fibreglass taipans would be cheaper to build than 20 timber taipans. You would not need to pay skilled and meticoulous woodworkers, but have them cut glass and infuse (or wet layup) resin in finished moulds..

I think the greatest development has been in sails and sailcloth. That is where new technology really has produced superior results. Dacron cross-cut sails was good, but CNC'd plotter/cutters gave us good tri-radial panels and really good sails. If Contenders MAXX cloth delivers on its promises, perhaps we will see cross-cut cat-sails on top-level boats again?

Replacing wire with spectra or dyneema also gives me a warm, fuzzy feeling.