"Who knows of a 20ft beach cat built in Florida with prepreg materials, a superlight boat, unirig with spinnaker, everyone thought it was going to be a rocketship. It was very fast in light winds, 5 knots. When the winds got up to 10 to 12 knots, other 20ft boats pulled even with it. When the winds got up in the 15 to 20 knot range, the superboat fell behind. What is wrong with this design? What was the mistake, the error, the oversight in this boat's design?"

Right, I`ve followed the line of argument between Wouter & Bill, and I`m intrigued as to why neither of them have seen the obvious : Take both of their ideas / theories & build a boat that conforms to both sets of ideals : Wide is good, helps lighter crews hold down more power. Light is good, helps reduce drag. Combine the two & you have the best of both worlds. Perhaps that`s why everybody compares every other boat to the Tornado : It has all the hi-tech material advantages making it stiff & light, & is also wider than other boats in the same / similar class. Seems the Supercat range of boats are heavier, so need more sail area to compensate. Due to this they are more powerful, needing a wider platform to compensate for this.
Why not take the Supecat design philosophy, reduce weight using modern construction methods (the cost has reduced over the years), and you`d have a serious monster machine.
No need for new moulds & tooling.
If width is a problem for towing, design folding / telescopic beams that are easy to dismantle & reasemble.
If the R33 can do it, so can other designers / builders.

Any takers ?