The Tornado is a double handed

multihull A multihull is a boat or ship with more than one hull, whereas a vessel with a single hull is a monohull. The most common multihulls are catamarans (with two hulls), and trimarans (with three hulls). There are other types, with four or more h ...

class recognised as an International Class by the

International Sailing Federation International is an adjective (also used as a noun) meaning "between nations". International may also refer to: Music Albums * ''International'' (Kevin Michael album), 2011 * ''International'' (New Order album), 2002 * ''International'' (The T ...

. It was used for the Catamaran discipline at the

Olympic Games The modern Olympic Games or Olympics (french: link=no, Jeux olympiques) are the leading international sporting events featuring summer and winter sports competitions in which thousands of athletes from around the world participate in a var ...

from 1976 to 2008.

Design

The boat was designed in 1967 by Rodney March from the

Isle of Sheppey The Isle of Sheppey is an island off the northern coast of Kent, England, neighbouring the Thames Estuary, centred from central London. It has an area of . The island forms part of the local government district of Swale. ''Sheppey'' is derived ...

, England. At the

IYRU World Sailing (WS) is the world governing body for the sport of sailing recognized by the International Olympic Committee and the International Paralympic Committee (IPC). History The creation of the International Yacht Racing Union (IYRU) be ...

Olympic Catamaran Trials for international status, where it defeated other catamarans. To increase its performance even further, the Tornado was modified in 2001, with a new

sail plan A sail plan is a description of the specific ways that a sailing craft is rigged. Also, the term "sail plan" is a graphic depiction of the arrangement of the sails for a given sailing craft.> In the English language, ships were usually describe ...

which included a

spinnaker A spinnaker is a sail designed specifically for sailing off the wind on courses between a reach (wind at 90° to the course) to downwind (course in the same direction as the wind). Spinnakers are constructed of lightweight fabric, usually n ...

and spinnaker boom, as well as an increased sail area of the existing sails. An additional

trapeze A trapeze is a short horizontal bar hung by ropes or metal straps from a ceiling support. It is an aerial apparatus commonly found in circus performances. Trapeze acts may be static, spinning (rigged from a single point), swinging or flying, an ...

was also added, and the jib was made self tacking. The Tornado is among the fastest double handed catamarans, with an ISAF Small Catamaran Handicap Rating System rating of 0.934 and a D-PN of 59.0. It is the fastest catamaran in the

RYA Rya or RYA may refer to: Biology * Rya sheep, breed of sheep native to Sweden * ''Rya'', a genus in subfamily Blennocampinae People * Rya Kihlstedt (born 1970), American actress * Rya W. Zobel (born 1931), judge of the United States District Cou ...

Portsmouth Yardstick The Portsmouth Yardstick (PY) or Portsmouth handicap scheme is a term used for a number of related systems of empirical handicapping used primarily in small sailboat racing. The handicap is applied to the time taken to sail any course, and the han ...

scheme, with a 2015 Portsmouth Number of 634.

Events

Olympics

The Tornado was used as the equipment for the multihull discipline in the

from 1976 through 2008, when multihulls were deselected. Please see the individual years for results Olympic Sailing Regatta

World Championships

Open

Mixed

References

External links

International Tornado AssociationISAF Tornado Microsite
{{Authority control Classes of World Sailing Catamarans Olympic sailing classes