Hi Sam <br> <br>You did a great job at picking out the various trial balloon ideas. As Carl notes... this is a very difficult problem. <br> <br>The debate is what is the future of 20 foot spin racing boats in the US. <br> <br>Basically we can let the future happen by doing nothing... or we can attempt to shape and direct the future to cat racing growth. <br>First issue. Given the Tornado and Inter 20 are the only two boats running chutes around triangles in the US. what are the constraints on the ultimate performance of a 20 foot by 8.5 wide cat. Two or three designers have catagorically stated. the I20 or any other design is way over max on sailpower. The only way to use the sailpower is extra beam. The Tornado will have to be faster in breeze. <br> <br>So. for a one design class, this is no problem... everyone is in the same boat. but we are trying to get a formula that would include more sailors and also be fair. This is not trivial <br> <br>In my view the development of an F18 class could help focus the f20's. The F18 class has been organized by the builders. Basically, at crew of 340 lbs you have the highest minimum of any production class AND you have a weight correction scheme for the lightweights who will have to run a smaller chute. The sheet load is a lot less AND the boat is cheaper. ... Hmmm... Its no wonder that the euro f20 scene is much smaller then the very active f18 scene. <br>What is the future of F18 in the USA.. and its impact on the pool of F20 sailors.? <br>I really don't know. <br> <br>John P wrote: <br>Its simply this in any wind above about 9 knots the speed upwind of the boat is directly proportional to its righting moment, this is why in Eu the f18s quite happily sail to the same speed as the 20s, they are the same width have the same size crews, the boats weigh the same, ergo they have the same righting moment and can only hold up the same amount of power. <br> <br>If you want these boats to be loads faster than the f18s, you must improve on the ratios of power to drag that they have, the drag factor is weght, the power factors are, length (you already have this one but its not that big), width and sail area, BUT YOU CAN'T increase sail area without increasing beam. (Wouter H and Bill Roberts have said about the same thing) <br> <br>What should a potential 8.5 Formula 20 do? It is not all together clear. <br> <br>Should the minimum crew weight be 350 for an I20 based formula class given F18's? <br>Yeah... I think that is the right niche of participants. <br> <br>What is the market for such a boat? <br>Bigger is always better in the USA... i20's should be able to sell that! <br> <br>Will monohull sailors pick up on a formula boat because they will now fit the boat. <br>Not sure... They do like a certain amount of comfort... They also like to compete against a big name. <br> <br>Will I20 sailors ever believe that less sailarea with better shape would be faster overall? <br>Not until someone shows them how to do it. <br> <br>Will Randy Smyth’s credo... Sailpower is King forever rule in the USA? <br>He is one of those designers that we should be consulting with. <br> <br>How about a different direction? <br>Should the Old B class rule be dusted off to get the max performance out of 20 feet It spawned the tornado 30 years ago.... Not a bad outcome.. However... these boats will be much wider then 8 and ½ feet. <br>If there is money on the line.... rigging the boat will not be a problem. But probaly won’t attract the weekend warrior . <br> <br>Correctly prediciting any of these outcomes would certainly help shape a f20 future in the USA. <br> <br>I agree with you Sam... it is very very confusing. <br> <br>I believe that the key to the future is the Marketing plan of the class. <br>If you were going to market 20 foot cat’s racing in the USA... You would want lots of participation from the Olympic Class racers first. Then you want lots of participation from the serious amatuer racer. You also don’t want to limit the sport to the 325 lb teams. Too many of the potential pool of sailors are way past that weight point. The marketing thrust is competition ... Not the exteme nature of the competion (Worrell 1000) <br> <br>The sports model that is closer to sailing is Beach Volleyball. Sun sand and skin BUT with Olympic gold on several of the competitors. You can register for a pro beach tournement and compete... just like sailing. Watch the stands on TV.... few of them are ever filled . Sailing can sell if we package it correctly. Selling sailing would mean selling sailing personalities. (Karch Karay in VB and MJ in Basketball) Selling these people who race cats would get more people into the sport and reverse the downward spiral we are on. (just look at the golf craze let by Tiger Woods) <br> <br>good sailing <br>Mark Schneider <br> <br> <br> <br> <br> <br> <br> <br><br><br>
