Thomas,

Welcome back.

Personally, I think the thing you decribe can always happen.

Blade sailors in the Netherlands can suddenly decide to go OD and exclude Stealths and Vipers. Stealth sailors in the UK can decide to go OD and exclude Blades and Vipers. And so on ...

One can always find a reason to exclude another who is different. Humans have done so for centuries with pretty discouraging results.

However, I think the F16 class should remain inclusive of everyone and I for one will never ask a Taipan F16 sailor to hang 23 kg of lead off his boat. I even think that to be a safety issue.

Therefore I will always favour to welcome both Taipan and Viper sailors to F16 events as indeed I will welcome Stealth, Blade, and Falcon sailors. A minimum weight of 107 kg is perfectly suited to that situation; it is inclusive of everyone whether they sail a pre-2007 AHPC product (Taipan) or a post-2007 AHPC product (Viper).

In all honesty, the F16 class can hardly ask its current class members and the other three builders to go back on their investments over the last 8 years and start pricing out lead. Or risk running afoul of class rule 4.6.5. (max 7.0 kg of corrector weights).


So, if the Viper sailors wish to create their own OD class then I wish them the very best.

Yet somehow, I still expect many Viper sailors to still commit adultry with respect to an event like the Global Challenge, Autralian nationals or the Gulfport invitational.


With kind regards,

Wouter