"I would say a well sailed F16 is very close in speed to an equally well sailed F18. Not faster, but nearly as fast, depending on sea state."

Was I unclear?

The problem with any rating system is it doesn't take into account wind and sea state, type of course, length of course, etc. Just time on time. That is why the last time we had this discussion I said we should do a "measured mile" type of speed test on each boat to get some real world data. To use the data from any regatta doesn't account for all the missed shifts, blown tacks, muffed snuffs, and oh yeah, running aground...