The way I read the Tornado rules, the building materials are glass, foam, wood and glue. Carbon/kevlar is allowed where mentioned specifically in the rules. Am I missing something in the rules, due to not speaking english natively ?
I think you will have to make a change in the class rules to be allowed to use carbon in the hulls, and that is a long process. The class ballot has allowed an testing period with carbon masts for 2004 (not in cometitions), but we will not vote wether ut allow carbon masts until 2005. Changes takes a lot of time..


Good point about heavy glues in plywood and cold moulding!

I have heard, and read about new hull shapes coming from both Reg White and Marstrom. Apparently the new rig can benefit from a slightly differen hull shape. Reg White has buildt some boats with finer bows and not as much fullness in the back. Marstrom has something called the B1 under development..

I also like my Marstrom very much, but wooden boats are also really beautiful. Gougeon are testing the durability and stiffness of wood/glass vs foam/glass now. Epoxyworks magazine has an article about this as applied in a skiff in the current issue. I'm looking forward to the next Epoxyworks magazine, where I hope they have som conclusions.
If wood/glass can compete both in stiffness/strength, or perhaps even surpass glass/foam, it would make for some interresting changes with regards to home building.

It's a shame Tornado plans are hard to come by tough!

Good luck with your 14 footer!