[quote=samc99us][quote=Dogboy][quote=samc99us]You won’t find this on any production boat or semi production boat; Groupama C was a million dollar design and build.[/quote]
My point exactly...comparing the weights of an F16, Nacra 20, and Tornado is not an apples-to-apples comparison. Each boat has different design considerations, so each is going to have different target weights (and price points). I'm sure a one-off Tornado designed specifically for Olympic competition is going to be right at minimum weight (it also may not last much longer than the specific event it was built for). You can build an incredibly light boat, but the
penalty for doing so is very high cost and limited longevity. C-Class cats are an extreme example of this.
sm[/quote]
Dogboy,
You are correct that these aren't apples to apples comparisons, however you are missing a key point. F16's, Nacra 20's, even Nacra F20c's are built in production environments where keeping cost down is a major driving point. The quality of most of these builds just isn't there-its hard to achieve when using a low cost workforce and resin infusion rather than a skilled aerospace composites team and high quality pre-preg materials. I could argue that a pre-preg build is lower cost as the labor needed is a lot lower, but the tradeoff is you need enough work to justify the upfront investment in the oven and overhead in space.
A one off Tornado built to 341lbs is going to be plenty stiff and have a near infinite lifespan; that is evidenced by Olympic Tornado teams using the same Marstrom T for 3 quads.I can assure you these boats were at minimum weight, doing pretty insane things like running 1.5-2mm kiteline dyneema for trapeze lines, full carbon snuffer assemblies, carbon fiber mainsheet block systems etc. You could build a modern high volume F18 or 20 footer to this same weight standard but it would require a change in the rules and the price of the boat to go up by about $10k, which frankly isn't very tenable. New boats aren't selling in droves even at the $25k price point.
Also, the C-class catamarans have high lifespans as well; carbon composites have extremely high fatigue i.e cycle life limits. The real issue there is handling/abuse, those sorts of boats aren't going to take kindly at all to even experienced sailors making mistakes.
Bottom line is cost, not weight, is generally the driving factor in composites fabrication.<!-- editby --><em>Edited by samc99us on Nov 05, 2018 - 09:08 AM.</em><!-- end editby --> [/quote]
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