Hi Jon,
I overlooked one of your questions, the one on "pitchpole tendency". The relative tendency of boats of the same size to pitchpole can be evaluated by simply measuring the height of the bows of the boats in question. For a boat to pitchpole, it must first push the bow underwater and make the deck become the bow, the hull part that is splitting the water. The boat with the tallest bow , the most hull volume forward, is the "less likely to pitchpole" hull shape. Also flat foredecks pitchpole more violently, more quickly, than rounded foredecks.
Good Sailing,
Bill
with all due respect, Bill is too general.
i could take a set of hobie16 hulls and make a boat that would never pitchpole by modifing the rig. or, i could take a set of 16' hulls with a 6inch high bow, a deck shape like a torpedo and set the main beam up high enough with streamlined stantions, making a craft that wouldn't pitchpole. the hull would ride under water, and as long as the front beam and associated platform never went under water there would be nothing to trip up the forward motion of the craft.
the point being is that there are many factors in cat design. the rig size and postion be as crucial as hullshape and bow height.
-sailing rules-
