I think you have it all wrong, having a sail made to fit your weight opens the class up to more sailors and you get better less expensive sails. The a cats do this and it works for them. The F18 class has some of the best sails and better priced than the oem sails (not one F18 had sail issues in the Tybee like the N20 did with the oem sails.
Hobie Cat should not be involved in any of the rules and should not be involved in the racing members class. Hobie would care more about boat and part sales than the racing class. The A cats, F16, F18 are all doing well with out manufactures telling them what to do.
Since Hobie went Hobie only in division 9 most dealers have gone under and I have not seen any new Hobie's racing just A cats, F18s, F16s, N20 and some older Hobie cats and all boats are welcome. Most of us did sail Hobie's they just don't make boats that fit our needs anymore.
The one problem I have with being a Hobie class member is you really don't get to vote on upper management only your division chair and they don't put major issues to membership vote. If the IWCA sailors come to the event it won't change the IHCA minds. Going to the event with the IHCA rules would just show that the IHCA does not need to change. The IWCA should just keep doing what they are doing because it is working for them and they are building there class. If the IWCA wants to convert to the IHCA rules they should put it to a class vote. The classes should be about the sailors and having equal, fun, competitive, affordable and not a arms race. Hobie will say they have that but I think you could buy a lot of parts that did not change the performance of the boats a lot cheaper than having to buy from HC.
Someone in this thread wanted facts on what the Hobie only rule has done. The boats I have owned new 1985 H16, used 1989 TheMightyHobie18, used 1997 TheMightyHobie18, used H17, new 01 Nacra I20, new 2002 Tiger. Hobie only rule all new 05 Nacra F18, 06 Infusion, 07 Infusion, 09 Infusion. Hobie lost all my business that's around 67,000 spent on Nacra's and I am just one sailor.
