I like what John P says. It is more about the sail area you can carry in the given wind strength. I have wondered why beach cats don't have different rigs for different wind speeds, just like the 18' skiffs and windsurfers use. That way, you could build a very light platform, use the small rig for big wind and the big rig for light air. Of course you would also need a medium rig for those medium days! <img src="http://www.catsailor.com/forums/images/graemlins/confused.gif" alt="" />

But it would cost 3X $ for 3 different sail packages, if you used the same mast. And you would have to make such a boat practical as Matt has said above, or nobody will buy it.

I wonder if the surviving Inter 20 boys from last weekend's Steeple Chase could add their thoughts to this? I'm thinking if they had put Hobie 16 sails and a smaller F18 spinnaker on the Inter 20 platform, they might not have been flipping so much and been "faster" to the finish line. Also, if you could put 10' beams on the Inter 20, it would be more stable. Too bad there were no Tornados to compare with this year.