First off, thanks to Nigel and Mr. Ernie for a great regatta, and for letting us sail with the Tigers (obviously scored separately), and to the Tiger sailors for putting up with us. We got what we asked for, so let's all plan on going next year.

Second, thanks to Jennifer for letting me sail with her, and for driving the boat so well. She did great, and the class is lucky to have her.

Third: Wow, the f16 and Tiger are as close to boat-for-boat as anyone can ask for, in conditions from 1 to 15 windspeed. In fact, we were closer in speed to the top 2 tigers than were the Nacra f18 and I18, or the bottom half of the Tiger fleet for that matter. We went up there with the objective of comparison with these boats, rather than competition with the open class boats, and we had a great chance to do it.
We worked through some of the downwind "teething problems" that people apparently had at the f16 nat's, and the boat went like stink. Having been impressed from day 1 with the downwind performance every time I sailed the boat with a chute, I was surprised at some of the negative reports on speed from the F16 nat's, which I wasn't fortunate enough to attend. I had kind of had a suspicion that the boats weren't sailed hot enough. This was definitely the case, as Jennifer said the boats there were being sailed a little deeper and MUCH slower than we sailed when there was good wind on friday. And I thought we were actually not hot enough then! In anything above 5mph wind, I trimmed for speed, and we still went deep.
I'd say that in 0-3 the Tiger has a SLIGHT advantage downwind, in 7-8 the f16 has a SLIGHT advantage downwind, but when I say slight, I mean a couple boatlengths over a very long course. Upwind speed was very close under all conditions. Jennifer is a faster sailor than me upwind in light air, and she really showed it. All in all, I'd be happy to race boat for boat any time against the f18's.
Again, I've been seeing a much greater difference between the various f18 designs that I have between the Tiger and the F16. Therefore, I'd be inclined to guess that it's all about the driver.
Michael C.
t4.9#32