I think you might be right Rolf about Bim not fully understand the F16 concept. But this is a problem that we as a Class are currently coming to terms with, which is definitely a step in the right direction.
At times I feel that Dinghy/Cat manufacturers are their own worst enemies. If there wasn't the current magnitude of such diversity in the sailing scene then sailing could be more popular which seems a bit of a contradiction. But the manufacturers seem to be diluting the benefits of class racing and the camaraderie which goes with it by offering an abundance of models. In the UK we currently have 138 different Dinghies and Multihulls, not including the FX Extreme and Bim X16. Is this really necessary and good for the people involved in the sport and does it put off perspective enthusiasts!!!
I'm not pretending to know the answers and my thoughts may have radical flaws but surely the manufacturers can't just continue to throw out numerous models around a theme hoping one will take the sailing populations imagination and money.
It seems to me that somebody in France has also noted the various amount of Cats designed around roughly the same parameters and is trying to group them together under the F104 umbrella. Maybe we shouldn't be too hasty in overlooking this new Class. Given careful consideration it might be worth us getting involved. This could upset some of the purists amongst us but overall could have some major benefits. I know there is a small problem with our current rating and I wouldn't want to change anything on an F16 to the detriment of it's performance, so we would just have to show that mathematically based ratings aren't as accurate as some people believe.
P.S I don't intend to start a discussion about ratings as all of them have good and bad points, that's why as I have previously mentioned, Class racing is probably the most enjoyable form of competition.