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First of all, are we taking advice on boat design from Hobie 16 Single Manufactorer One-Design sailors ?
Many designers still scratch their heads over the "unique" design choices made with that boat.
Other then that your example only explains that a badly designed platform with unbelievable amounts of flexibility is not what we are looking for. Not that "overstiffness" is impossible.
That's a bit harsh Wouter. Some very good sailors have campaigned H16's over the years. They weren't reponsible for the design - the example was about how people with relevant skills were able to improve the performace of an OTB cat by stiffening the platform. I believe the "better" designs still have some improvement in them. There is still twist in the platform of the best A's on the bearaways going wild and I'm sure the kite boats get twist when bearing away wth a gust downwind. It would be good to utilise that lost energy. What is overstiffness and how do you measure it? I would think everyone would want to transfer the power of their rig to the water with no loss - we aren't there yet.
