I suspect that Laser had sold 100,000 boats before they became Olympic.... that class culture is established and 100 Laser Olympic hopefuls can do their own thing, shop boats and masts and not affect the class culture much. Hobie has sold more then that in H16's. Even if they force a spin on the 16 for Olympics... I doubt you could change the culture much in the US.... Probably just let the spin fleet go it's merry Olympic way.
But... 40 to 50 Olympic Tornado's... certainly dominated the much smaller Tornado Class (couple hundred class members) and the Olympic guys controlled the class.... (Olympics are the reason the class exists)
Re F18's... Sure, the very top of the class was busy mixing and matching parts from different builders from the very beginning ... But it has taken many a year for third party foil makers to convince some class members to upgrade. I assert the Class Culture did a pretty good job of delivering the message... Sail the damn boat that you bought and stop trying to get an equipment edge.... we are about racing skill... not high tech development, the boats are pretty equal. (See A class for more of that mindset)
Again... the whole point of the thread was to offer an explanation for WHY you don't want to be an Olympic Class.... (It's not about the competition or competitors)
