All this bickering between F-16/F-17/F-18/A-class/anyboat is very tiresome and detracts a lot from the quality of the excellent forum we have here. We dont need to go trough this every time a new sailor asks which boat to choose.

About the Tornado, it is quite weight sensitive for a 20 footer. It dont have as much bouyancy low down as newer designs. It is also the olympic catamaran, so no wonder if the ambituous sailors tune in to an optimum crew weight. There are some weight differences between crews tough! We raced it at 200kgs last nationals, and was clearly at an disadvantage in the light stuff. In heavy winds we still had to sail smart to finish well, lighter crews was still very fast.
Mark, how do you know that ISAF demanded a carbon mast? That position was not mentioned when we went trough the ballot, so I am a bit curious on the why/how/when. Or am I mistaken?
For you engineers out there, deflection tests for all certified T one design carbon masts are available at: http://www.tornado.org/html/carbon_mast_data.asp
Looks like there are some differences between masts, but perhaps not large enough to be significant?


To get back to topic. Stuart wants to know about structural issues with common F-18 models. Are there none? How about hull stiffness on the older, much used, boats? Has there not been any significant changes to beam positions and foils over the years? I have seen two Hobie Tiger masts come down due to breaking schakles, is this common? (I have also seen Tornado dyform shrouds breaking inside the terminal, so please dont go there). No ill will here, just curious..


Chris, I can totally relate to your sons malady. I spent the better part of the night embracing the toilet bowl myself. <img src="http://www.catsailor.com/forums/images/graemlins/crazy.gif" alt="" />