Distance racing did it for me. I was ground crew for Team SanDiego in the 03 Tybee and got a chance to know the boat a little more with working on it so much.
I had a 21SE at the time and tried to do some distance racing with it (04 GT300) but the LeMans starts are a bitch with a 700 lb boat. I ended up "pimpin' it out" enough to sell it and get a N20. First sail on it (late 05 or early 06) was my first time on a N20 and I almost fell off because it steered so quickly (used to a real heavy helm on the Hobie and balanced myself with it more than I realized).
Aside from updating the sails, I wouldn't change a thing about it.

Ya'll are making me want to get one! (an 1-20 that is)

Wait.. another Todd?!??! This won't work...and i'm not so sure about your rights to The Todd.... how come i've never seen a post from you before and you've got 1480 posts!

Tawd, Punk, and The Todd. I see no issues.

+1

In the Spring of 2000 at Lake Hartwell, I got my first look at the Nacra 20 - Chris Brown raced it against the 6.0s in the open class. Before the event was even over, my skipper Mark Smith had already decided to get one. When we got back to Pensacola, he and Kirk got the ball rolling - the 20 had been selected as the one-design boat for the Worrell 1000 and the buzz was significant. For the 2001 Spring Fever, we had seven 20s racing in an F20-type start with three or four Hobie Foxes. I raced on Mark's boat (#314) for a couple of years until it became obvious that, unlike the Nacra 6.0, the 20 could not be raced at the minimum weight of 325... spinnaker racing and the higher aspect mainsail demanded more weight.

I got occasional invitations to race on 20s even as late as 2007, but as my interest in buoy racing solidified, the 20 became less and less of a viable option for me. The class was, at that time, focused on distance races and Performance Race Week. I've been accused of "abandoning" the 20 Class... truth be told, I'm just not as interested in distance racing as I am buoys. I started in the Class with buoy racing - when the class' focused changed, I had to find other options.

The 20 is still the best choice for racing in the Atlantic Ocean - among all the boats available, it is uniquely suited to face the variety of conditions one might encounter. When Mike proposed the boat as the one-design platform for the Worrell 1000, most of the fleet (including me - I was a team manager) felt the boat would never hold up to the beating the 6.0 had withstood. Boy were we wrong. People on the beach know that I lost a number of bets last year - I wagered on the 20 to be the first boat every leg. For 2010, I wish the fleet smooth sailing, no night legs and rhumb lines that pay off.

You two are killing my reputation! Honestly I did nothing to deserve this nickname.. anyways not the thread for this discussion, it's only a matter of time til a 20 sailor yells at me.
I loved the 20 and feel the same way as JW... I was forced to find something else to cater to my interested in buoys racing and our fleet in the NE was mostly developed for this reason.
I was given the 20 I sailed to use in a regatta while I still owned the 6.0. After 2 years of trying to compete with the N20's on the 6.0, spending 1 day on the N20 made me never want to go back, and I didn't.. I sold the 6.0 and borrowed the 20 whenever I could. Everything about the boat was such an improvement from anything else I had ever sailed, from the high performance rig to the high aspect ratio blades.
I love the Infusion but if I had a choice I think I would have stayed with the 20... it was a sad day which I sold that boat. If I could have both I would be sailing Tybee on the 20.

My first experience with the inter 20 came on a desolate beach. A huge rock was sitting in the middle of the beach with a daggerboard sticking out of it. A couple of folks were trying to pull the daggerboard out, to no avail. I took my turn and the daggerboard easily slid out of the rock and a blinding light surrounded it. Almost instantly a beautiful boat formed around the board and I thought " Cool, free boat" then realized that something very special had happened and that this must be the boat for me.
Actually, my first time on the 20 was prepping Bart Hall's for our 2000 Worrell 1000 effort. As JW said, I thought there was No way this boat could live up to the 6.0, was I wrong. I bought one for myself a week after the race finish and have never regretted it.
It is an absolute Cadillac of a ride and a bulletproof, dependable boat.
Todd Hart
The original, one and only "The Todd"

p.s. I know Keith will have a great story to tell, just like the night before Christmas.

I got mine because at the time it was perceived to be the fastest production boat out there.

What "sold" me after purchase was the clean layout, the blinding speed even for a newbie, and the ease of operation (flipped it twice the first day)

Bought Scott's (Perf Sail) Worrell N20 (with new hull after being punched on a surf launch) and never looked back.

Memories I'll always cherish:

- Learning to fly hull downwind in 6 kts with Kirk coaching from his N20 in pensacola

- Overstanding C at our first tradewinds (2002?)and screetching down the course single trapped, driving over pretty much everything out there (except Kenny/Steve)

- Pretty much every Hirams Haul I did (all of which were done on an N20, thanks to Karl and Mark H)

- flying across sandbars at Steeple and MKL wondering if I would die steering the dang thing with the rudders unlocked and spin up

- and last but certainly not least, the LAST GUY to hit the Jewfish Creek bascule bridge with an N20 mast. This was second only to the fine photos of Kirk/Jdub got when they got stuck under the card sound bridge at Steeplechase