hmmmm.... think I said that a page ago . . . SuperCat 17! Pst. it is also a rating beater, if you decide to race.

Having surfed my own H14 and N5.0 and a friend's H16, I found the 5.0 by far the easiest to surf and easiest to handle to handle in big waves without capsizing.

I think the H14 is the most fun, though--so small...

Not at all a fair or accurate comparison!

The Tornado has undergone tremendous ongoing development over its lifespan, including advanced materials and manufacturing methods and, most important of all, tremendous rig development. The Tornado is more like the Porsche 911--it's been around since the 60's, but a new one is nothing like the original.

It gets tough to tell who is who around here <img src="http://www.catsailor.com/forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif" alt="" /> <img src="http://www.catsailor.com/forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif" alt="" />

Maybe I wasn't clear enough the first time :"The Nacra 5.0 is a BETTER boat then the Hobie 16 in the surf and waves"

The amount of boats at some nationals doesn't change that fact one bit neither does whether the infusion is better then the Hobie 16.

Furthermore I laugh about these surf comments anyway. 95 % of the sailors only TRAVERSE the surf but don't sail in it for any length of time. And in the way of sailing through waves , specially short and choppy ones) there are heaps and heaps of other boats that are better.

And yes I do come from an area where we have both in significant amounts.

Talk about the truly good points of the Hobie 16, like simplicity, and I'm with you all the way. But for some reason we are more often served BS.

Wouter

Mary made some great points.
So Wouter is telling us that Hobie Alter looked at the A cat, Tornado and Shark designs. Decided to build a better surf beach cat and didn't get it right.
Who are we to argue with Wouter.
After all,what did Hobie and his champion surf team and board builders know about surfing.

I would like to know ! Who decided or concieved the idea about asymetrical hulls and actually built the first successful model. Also I would think water line length plays a big role in transversing the surf.Make a 20ft hobie 16 style cat see what happens.

20'(hobie16)=Gforce 21,I saw this beast on a recent trip.Awsome!This would make a great family boat although that was not it's intention.

Asymetric hulls go back into antiquity. The ancient polynesians, maybe others.

Well, I don't have an "informed" opinion to offer here, but I just got back from a week on Cape Fear where I got my feet (and other stuff) wet again on my new-to-me Prindle 18.

The boat had clearly sat for ages and ages, so I spent a good bit of time ironing out the rigging and replacing all lines. The weather cooperated, though. The first day out it was blowing 5-7, and the angle of the beach there such that the surf was a piece of cake.

By the last day it was blowing 10-12, and there were 2-3' seas, but, even solo, I had a permanent grin. I had to give up when it kept blowing harder. Wow, I waited years longer than I should have.

I don't know if you're still reading this thread, but I owned a P16 25 years ago; the 18 was a bigger pain to rig, so I can see where the 18 Escape would be attractive to a lot of folks. The extra sail area on the 18 made me a little nervous in the higher wind. The nervousness will be supplanted by excitement with a little more time on the water. The other issues can be corrected: catrax, righting bag, mast buddy.

I got the 18 thinking the GF would be out with me, but now I think I'll be soloing a good bit more...and we didn't even capsize once! <img src="http://www.catsailor.com/forums/images/graemlins/frown.gif" alt="" />