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Reply to: Using a race boat for recreation; Miracle 20 vs Tiger vs Inter 20

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[quote=Dogboy]I have a lot of experience on the H18 and the H20 and have seen/raced against Tigers and Inter 20s.

There will be a very noticeable difference in performance between the H20 and the H18.  The 20 is much more powerful upwind and downwind.  You can really feel the improved speed and efficiency upwind.  The 20 will be faster than a Tiger upwind, but downwind, without a spinnaker, the 20 will not be able to hang with the spinnaker boats.  You really have to be on your game when sailing the H20 in a breeze as it is much less forgiving than the 18.  The boat wants to be driven hard.

Setup time between the H20 and H18 will not be a lot different once you become efficient at rigging the 20 (I am referring to the stock 20 which does not have a spinnaker).  The mast on the 20 is 3 feet longer than the 18 and can be a bear to raise manually.  From a simplicity and pleasure sailing standpoint, you really can't beat the 18.  The 20 has several more lines on the tramp as well as the jib cable which runs across the width of the tramp.  It's really not a pleasure sailing boat and in fact, a lot of sailors dropped out of the class because the boat can be so hard on the crew.

The 20s are strong boats, but I would be leery about putting 700LBS of crew weight on any of the boats you mentioned (except maybe in light wind, low chop conditions).  Also, some of the early boats (up to around 1995) had issues with the hull seams separating at the crossbars.  You also really need beach wheels.  The boat can be dragged a few feet across the beach (like when pulling it out of the water), but it should be moved across long distances on wheels or the bottoms will take a beating.

Tiger performance would be somewhere between the 18 and the 20 upwind.  Downwind, with a spinnaker, it will be faster than both.  If you're looking to getting into spinnaker sailing, it's probably a good choice.  The Inter 20 would be similar to the H20 upwind (maybe slightly less powerful due to a smaller jib), but downwind with the spinnaker, it would be faster.

sm<em>Edited by Dogboy on Mar 25, 2016 - 11:18 AM.</em> [/quote]

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