thanx for your reply JW. As far as distance racing do you think that the F18 has been maxed out in performance in this country compared to the rest of the world. I would have thought it would have been the boat to beat on the jupiter leg of the Tybee this year. The Tybee organizers are doing the right thing by holding fast to the I20 as its premier boat. There are a lot of designs out there that can obtain the speed of the I20 but it appears to be easier to create speed in all directions to the wind than other designs even for the relatively less experienced teams.There is nothing wrong with the I20 as the boat of the future and riegn in these long distance events like the Tornado in the olympics. just blabbering on.... Bob