Now I know you that haven't really looked closely at the specs of boats or the gained experience with each so far.

First your write :



And then make a complete 180 and write :




So you really believe that 0.25 mtr or 10 inches hull length makes a world of difference (never mind the F16 rating is much lower/faster then the F17 even when sailed heavy)

Then the (overweight) 17 footer (measured to be 150 kg despite what the brochures claims) can easily carry 155 kg of crewweight but the 110 kg 16 footer is only suited to all (petite) girl teams and Asians. Seems to me that the difference in platform weight alone would already account for 40 kg heavier crews on the F16's in comparison. Last time I checked the F17 wasn't foiling either (and has much strickter rules on such things as well)

Then to top it off you implicetly claim that the 17 footer could be an all male boat where the (much lighter but with same sail area and faster) F16's could not provide an exiting platform for spectacular racing.

Have you ever sailed on (modern) F16 ?

I think it is high time you did; you will instantly understand that your opinions of it are incredibally far of the mark. And no the Taipan 4.9/F16 is no longer state of the art (and I have one myself)

Personally I favour the Volvo extreme 20 over the foiling Nacra20 and please leave all the carbon BS aside. The VE20, A-cats, F16's and what not have been running with carbon for many years now and therefore the New Nacra is not something special.

Wouter