Tornado (boat class)
| Notation | |
|---|---|
|
|
| Boat dimensions | |
| Length above : | 6.10 m |
| Width above sea level : | 3.08 m |
| Freeboard : | approx 0.40 m |
| Draft : | 0.17 m / 0.76 m |
| Mast height : | 9.80 m |
| Weight (ready to sail): | 165 kg |
| Sail area | |
| Sail area close to the wind : | 21.84 (old rig) 23.80 (new rig) m² |
| Mainsail : | 15.6 m² |
| Jib : | 5.4 m² |
| Gennaker : | 25 m² |
| Others | |
| Rigging type: | Sloop |
| Yardstick number : | 77 (old) 74 (new) |
| Class : | Internationally Olympic from 1976 to 2008 |
As a two-hull sailing boat or catamaran, the Tornado is the fastest international sailing boat class to date . Like all boat classes , it bears its class symbol on the main sail , a T stylized as a hurricane with two lines below it. From 1976 to 2008 the class was Olympic, from 2016 Nacra 17 is the Olympic multihull class.
history
Beginnings
The tornado was developed in 1967 by the Englishman Rodney March with the help of Terry Pierce and Reg White . At the time there was talk of including a catamaran in the Olympic sailboats. In the ISAF elimination races , the tornado easily defeated the other boats and became Olympic for the first time in 1976. In November 2007, the ISAF decided against a tornado competition at the 2012 Olympic Games.
Due to the exertion of catamaran sailing, the tornado was sailed exclusively by men for a long time, but in recent years mixed teams have pushed themselves among the best in the world, with the women usually acting as the helmsman and the men as the crew .
The manufacturers are or were: Marström (S), White Formula (GB), White (GB), Sailcraft England (GB), Phantercraft (GB), Glas (D), Denninger and Maile (D), Wallner (A) , Steiner (A), Scheurer (CH), Boyer (CDN), Alwoplast (Chile), and others.
Boat class revisions
In order to trim the boat for today's sporting needs, it was modified in 2000. He got a second trapeze (for the helmsman) and a gennaker with a sail area of 25 m², and the sail area of the main sail was enlarged to 17 m² and the jib increased to 7 m².
In 2005 the Tornado was equipped with a carbon mast . This has further increased the performance of the boat.
The revisions, however, led to the fact that the regatta fields were reduced, as not all sailors upgraded to the new stand for cost reasons, but with the conventional design of the boat no longer had a chance of good placements.
sailing
The decisive factor for the relatively high speeds of catamarans is primarily that the catamaran can carry more sail area than a monohull boat of comparable mass, since it is able to absorb greater wind pressure. This is primarily achieved through the high righting moment due to the boat's width. In addition, the righting moment is increased by shifting the team weight (riding, trapeze). This, in turn, is more effective with a catamaran than with a monohull, as there is a larger lever arm.
The profiled sails (rotating mast, battened mainsail) increase the aerodynamic efficiency of the sails by around 20%.
The tornado is sailed the fastest when - due to the heel - the windward hull is just out of the water. The catamaran can be safely sailed up to wind force 6 through the targeted use of the trimming devices, especially the traveler . An experienced crew can weather stronger gusts , but the extra wind can only be converted into propulsion to a limited extent.
At higher waves can for undercutting come. The bow tip of the empty hull "drills" into a wave crest, which leads to an abrupt braking (plug) and in the worst case to a forward rollover.
Individual evidence
- ↑ sailing.org : ISAF Council Decide Ten Sailing Events For 2012 Olympic Games. , accessed November 11, 2007
