It's really all about the beam width. There are other boats with similar hulls, sail area and weight but lacking the T's beam width they are proportionately slower. The P19 is a perfect example. Hurricane 5.9 is another.
The only negative aspect I,ve heard about the T from T sailing teams is the tendancy of the narrow knife like bows to dive into waves when overpowered with the added spin .
CDR
True, and this is one area where newer boats like the P19 have improved over the T's original design. Though a tiny bit shorter (P19 is actually 19' 3") the P19's hulls are much 'fatter' forward of the front beam than a T. They exhibit a high resistance to nose diving because of all that extra buoyancy in front where you need it. You have to make some big mistakes to get a P19 to dig in badly. I have sailed along for miles solo reaching with the tip of the lee bow a couple of inches under water without a care(I was too light to keep the boat balanced even hiked out with my toes on the transom). And the P19 is still a 'flat top' hull like the T. The really modern boats have elliptical cross-section hulls like a u-boat, so are happier than a seagull at a landfill sailing with a hull buried.
But without that extra beam width, you just don't have the righting moment to keep the heel angle down to a reasonable amount, especially upwind, like a T can. So you never really get to take advantage of the sail power you have.
Jimbo
