Seems to me all this fuss of the I20 sailplan is coming from the Tybee500 race last year...which was primarily a beam/close reaching course and not DDW. The F18's could handle those angles better...so now I20's want to match/beat them in those conditions...but won't this just exchange superior downwind performance for better reaching performance? On standard short courses, the current I20 should beat F18's Up/Down wind.

Why change the boat/class to make it better for special-case racing like the Tybee? Better to make a distance racing sail plan and a standard one for round-the-buoys short stuff.