I think the fixation on weight has more than a little bit to do technical bragging rights. Whilst the the F16 is doing well in certain areas it has been noted that this is not the case in Europe. Why?
Most club racing is done in mixed fleets. In Europe this routinely done under SCHRS or Texel. The light weight penalises the F16 under these measurement systems. Take a look at the success of the Spitfire (139Kg I think) or the Viper (125/130Kg?) These are competitive 16ft boats. If the average club sailor wants to have a bit of fun competing for club trophies would he chose an F16 if despite how well they sailed or how much they enjoyed the experience of of their particular boat they would always be walking around with the chip of a harsh handicap on their shoulders? Before anyone starts on me for that I do appreciate that in the right hands they can achieve excellent results but I am looking at things from the view of the average club sailor. If I wanted an F16 for club sailing it would have to be the Viper. I would however not sail it under F16 but under an SCHRS rating suitable to the boat. If it was going to cause issues I would just walk away and buy a Spitfire. You only have to look at comparable sales in Europe to see what sailors have actually done.
Weights and what/how it is possible to build have been discussed at length for a number of years and the F16 class has decided to stand alone. If the class does want to expand it needs to appeal to a wider market. Certainly within Europe there are a limited number of club sailors with the physical attributes, sailing skills and finances who will choose F16 to club race based on it's current appeal.
Maybe the F16 was pitched too far away from the market on the assumption larger manufacturers would design/build to the rule. This does not appear to be the general trend. It is obviously the choice of the class association to decide on its direction and it clear there are vocal sailors both for and against change within the class. I suspect there are fewer sailors outside the class who support the current position, otherwise they would be probably be sailing F16 now.
Could the lightweight singlehanders cope with (maybe) 10/20Kg ashore without harming the class? It certainly seems that in practice 'actual' boat weights would not necessarily have to change that much.
