What is the correct PN for the ARC17? History and First Rac

Technical discussion of ARC products
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Bill Roberts
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Joined: November 17th, 2003, 9:13 pm
Location: Stuart, Florida

What is the correct PN for the ARC17? History and First Rac

Post by Bill Roberts »

Hi Eric,
The reason the SC17 was revisited/reinvented/put back into production is because it sold well once and it took no big bucks, no new tooling to bring it out again. The SC17 was designed 25 years ago. All that was done last year was to put new sails on the same rigging and spar and add a spinnaker as an option. This brought the 17 up to the same technology level as the other ARC products.
You asked about something to compare the ARC 17 to, Eric; here are some thoughts.
So, what is the correct PN for the new ARC17? Let's go to the Tradewinds Race results, 2004, and see what we can learn. I suggest we use the last four heats because in the first four heats boats were going around the wrong race course and the 17 used the spinnaker in three out of the first four so things are sort of scrambled. The last four heats are cleaner data and the 17 did not use the spinnaker.
Fifth heat analysis: Using a PN of 70.1 and not using the spinnaker, the ARC 17 finished second on corrected tine. That is 44 seconds behind the D18 and 2min and 27 seconds in front of the T4.9.
Sixth heat: The ARC17 finished first on corrected time but only by a whisker. The 17 was 22 seconds ahead of the D18 and 1 min and 14 seconds ahead of the H20.
Seventh heat: The ARC 17 finished first again on corrected time. This time it was 50 seconds ahead of the D18 and 1 minute and 55 seconds ahead of the H20.
Eighth race: The ARC17 finished second on corrected time. This time it was 14 seconds behind the T4.9 and 30 seconds ahead of the D18. Tight race!
We could also use the fourth heat: Here the ARC17 finished second on corrected time in between the two T4.9s. The 17 finished 6 seconds behind the first T4.9 and 8 seconds in front of the second T4.9. Tight race again.
Summary: Assuming this crowd of sailors sailed their boats to their respective PNs, it looks to me like a PN of 70 for the ARC17 without spinnaker is a better number than 70.1 with spinnaker. This would make the PN for the ARC17 with spinnaker equal to 67.2.
Here is some more interesting information comparing PNs of boardless beach cats of similiar size.
BOARDLESS BEACH CAT PERFORMANCE HISTORY
H16, actual length 16ft and 6ins. PN = 76.1
P16, 16ft, PN = 77.5
P18, 18ft, PN = 74.5
SC17, 1980 intro. 17ft, PN = 73.0
ARC17, 2004 intro. 17ft, PN* = 70.0 sloop, new
sail plan .
ARC17, 2004 intro. 17ft , PN* = 67.2 with spinnaker

The 2004 ARC17 is the same boat as the 1980 SC17 with new sails and spinnaker.
Conclusion: The SC17 always has been outstandingly fast beach cat for its size. History tells us that. The new ARC 17 appears to be even faster.
* PNs calculated based on one,(1), regatta and subject to change as more data is accumulated.
Good Sailing, Eric
Bill
PS In the future, Eric, I am going to respond to questions on Aquarius products on the owners.aquarius-sail.com web site. When I talk about these products here, I get pounded with questions via e-mail from individual SC/ARC owners and I end up answering the same question at least 10 times. It is wearing me out.

Thanks for your questions, Eric.
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