the changes made the F17 are so it fits the 104 class, And its appears that its been worth it too.
No wonder; the F104 is a F16 copy-cat too !
Just add a few kg's to any F16 ... et voila c'est une F104 !
The F17 has just won the French 104 nationals and was also the standout boat in the recent French magazine test.
Yes, that is what I'm saying. After 7 iterations, each one making the Nacra 17 resemble the F16's more closely, it is finally so close to these that it is starting to float to the top of the leader boards.
Several of us have been saying this for years ! Finally we became fed up with talking to the proverbial wall and having to accept pretty awful designs from the big time builders and thus we went out and created the "F16 class" ourselves. Showing in deeds what the big boys were ignoring.
Honestly Andrew, it is okay to admit to this. There is no shame in it. We ourselves readily admit to learning from other classes like the F18's, A-cats and most importantly the Taipans.
If someone has the time (and inclination) maybe its worth recalculating the results from Texel using 104 for the vipers handicap (2 up) and then if Geert's boat was heavier than the F16 handicap how about recalculating it with the correct handicap and see how he would have gone?
Why ?
We are not playing the handicap game and we never have. We race the F18's on "first in wins", we race any other design like the F17's on a "first in wins" basis, the same among ourselves (1-up/2-up). We are not some sea lawyer trying to find an advantage in the small print or some handicapping formula.
The elapsed time listing says enough I think; Fawcett/Dobie sailed an excellent race on their 2-up F17 and beat all the competition in their field fair and square.
Oh and if you have technical issues scanning and posting the "light F17" certificate you can just fax it to me and I will do it for you.....
I think we have a misunderstanding here, there is no reason why I CAN'T send these to you; I just refuse to do so. Plain and simple.
Wouter
