Posted by Mike Hill on January 17, 19103 at 14:58:59:
In Reply to: Attn: All 20' boat owners posted by Barry on December 13, 19102 at 13:22:08:
Barry and all,
I like the idea of an F20 class. Comparing the 6.0 to the I20 in a bouys race I know that the I20 has a significant advantage upwind. I'm not really sure why but I would guess it is because of the longer, more effiecient boards mostly. It seems to climb to windward by a fraction of a degree higher than the 6.0. This translates to getting to A mark first in every race. I do not know how to equate these two to windward but believe that if some weights were taken out and skippers could trade boats you could get it equalized somehow.
Downwind it's hard to tell. There is always so much seperation at A mark and multiple other factors that it gets a lot harder to tell. I wouldn't feel disadvantaged on the 6.0 downwind other than the fact that you have to deal with the larger jib. It seems a little harder to pop and control hull flying downwind with a 6.0. Overall with my experience I'd mark them equal downwind for now.
So it seems if you could equalize upwind performance you would have a decent class.
As far as other boats go I would not begin to try to race my Hobie 20 against these boats straight-up. The H20 suffers from a lack of sail area compared to the I20 and 6.0. It simply is not competitive straight-up as demonstrated by it's portsmouth number. I have no idea how the Tornado would compare to these boats speed in different conditions.
Keep One Hull Flying,
Mike Hill
H20 #791 (last seen on the green machine)