[quote=Bundy. . . The F16 class will eventually come under pressure to become a bit more professional and now is the time to decide its direction for the future before it it happens. Do you want manufactures involved? Do you want full development? Do you want to limit costs? Who makes these decisions?
I disagree on one point. The class is already under pressure to become more professional!
I can't speak to Europe but in the U.S. we are training measurer's and working towards certification of our fleet. A small group of us were at a seminar yesterday with an ISAF certified measurer. Our immediate aim is to certify boats for the upcoming Nationals in April. As we are starting from scratch, I expect this first exercise to have some rough edges, but we will do the best we can with the people and experience available.
This effort is absolutely in response to the criticism from other sailors, inside and outside the class, that we aren't serious minded. We are serious and intend to demonstrate the point.
In answer to the remainder of your post: I think having manufacturers involved is essential to strike some sort of balance among the other factors you've mentioned and I favor a strong class association as the final decision maker.
Imo, it would be of little value to produce a cutting edge product that no one could afford, for sale to the general public. However, it might be worth noting that auto racing permits and encourages factory prototypes. That might apply to our situation. As a "factory prototype" I'd say (just about)anything goes.
I have to add that I don't think we can have this discussion on an open forum and would very much like to see it (the discussion) restricted to boat owners.
Pete Pollard Blade 702
'When you have a lot of things to do, it's best to get your nap out of the way first.
The class is already under pressure to become more professional!
