performance of iom sailboats, available for download

[katechai]

The Triple Crown, the Arrow, the Silver, the Noux, the Vanquish and the Momentum, which one performs well in :
1. light wind ?
2. strong wind ?
3. which one is the all around winner ?
4. and which one is easy to build ?

thanks
katechai

[cfwahl]

The Triple Crown, the Arrow, the Silver, the Noux, the Vanquish and the Momentum, which one

Judging from the question, this is probably your first IOM, possibly your first model sailboat. My advice would be to buy a "previously owned" boat in good condition, and sail that for awhile. You can spend a lot of time over an off-season "rebuilding" little things that aren't right, or to your taste, and learn a lot. Of these (Silver is actually "Sliver"), none that I've seen the drawings for (this excludes Noux and Momentum) have any real building instructions or detailed layout above shadows, rudder, keel and mast positions: you need to know what you're doing or spend a lot of time learning about yacht construction. That's okay if you're handy, but you could still chew up a racing season, or two, doing that.

Very broadly speaking, the hulls with narrower beam have an advantage in light winds, due mainly to reduced wetted surface, and the "skiff" designs (wide beam and flatter curvature aft) handle the higher velocity stuff better, because they tend to plane rather than burying themselves. But everyone (even the experts) obsesses about hull shape, when practice, rig tuning, reliability of equipment, and experience with wind and tactics is really what wins; all the hulls are pretty much round on the bottom, and pointy in the front. Beware of any hull design that's too radical, it probably is very difficult to sail well, goes great in just the right conditions, and stinks the rest of the time.

No offense to any of the designs (that you mention) intended, but the only regatta report that I've seen where any of them finished notably was one in England, I think, where a couple Triple Crowns were entered. That doesn't mean much; I'm not by any means an expert, but the lines of TC, Vanquish, and Arrow look very reasonable to me.