Beach Catamaran Performance History
Posted: March 8th, 2004, 12:52 pm
The following is a paste by Bill Roberts from the catsailor forum dealing with "the carbon Tornado discussion and faster boats".
Hi Macca,
The proof of speed is in the demonstration. I don't see anything as fast as the Tornado in this latest crop of "new designs". Look at Portsmouth Numbers for an unbiased source of relative boat speeds. The point is that good engineering and good design do not get old. I have been a part of catamaran design and performance for about 25 years. Over that period the only boat that was ever issued a PN lower than the Tornado was the Supercat 20. There was a time when the standard SC20 was 62 and the SC20TR was 60 while the Tornado was 64. These are the only 20ft boats to ever be rated faster than the Tornado. Today there is the ARC22 which is the SC20TR with the hull stretched 2ft in the front end; same mast and rig and boards and rudders as the SC20TR. Today the 22 with spinnaker has a PN 2.7% lower than the Tornado with spinnaker. This PN diference also has within it the fact that the ARC22 is sailed by good/average sailors and the Tornado, best data, is sailed by Olympic caliber sailors. This effect itself has significantly reduced the PN difference between these two boats.
So Macca, there aren't many new design ideas out there waiting to be incorporated into a Tornado beater. I remember when the H18 first came out and it was touted to be a Tornado beater. What a puff of hot air that was. The M20 is 140 pounds lighter in weight than the Tornado with a more efficient sail plan and high aspect ratio boards and rudders and the best it can do is sail even with a well sailed Tornado. Isn't that 140 pound weight reduction of the M20 worth something??? What's going on here? What's wrong? I guess good boat design and good engineering just doesn't get old. Maybe it is something like a good piece of art work where form is function.
Bill
Hi Macca,
The proof of speed is in the demonstration. I don't see anything as fast as the Tornado in this latest crop of "new designs". Look at Portsmouth Numbers for an unbiased source of relative boat speeds. The point is that good engineering and good design do not get old. I have been a part of catamaran design and performance for about 25 years. Over that period the only boat that was ever issued a PN lower than the Tornado was the Supercat 20. There was a time when the standard SC20 was 62 and the SC20TR was 60 while the Tornado was 64. These are the only 20ft boats to ever be rated faster than the Tornado. Today there is the ARC22 which is the SC20TR with the hull stretched 2ft in the front end; same mast and rig and boards and rudders as the SC20TR. Today the 22 with spinnaker has a PN 2.7% lower than the Tornado with spinnaker. This PN diference also has within it the fact that the ARC22 is sailed by good/average sailors and the Tornado, best data, is sailed by Olympic caliber sailors. This effect itself has significantly reduced the PN difference between these two boats.
So Macca, there aren't many new design ideas out there waiting to be incorporated into a Tornado beater. I remember when the H18 first came out and it was touted to be a Tornado beater. What a puff of hot air that was. The M20 is 140 pounds lighter in weight than the Tornado with a more efficient sail plan and high aspect ratio boards and rudders and the best it can do is sail even with a well sailed Tornado. Isn't that 140 pound weight reduction of the M20 worth something??? What's going on here? What's wrong? I guess good boat design and good engineering just doesn't get old. Maybe it is something like a good piece of art work where form is function.
Bill