Or from the Blade, Falcon or Stealth. AHPC could feed of the introduction of any Nacra / Hobie 125kg 16 footers as could Hobie and Nacra feed of the Vipers existance. As with F18s and as Macca poined out in his interview, some people are loyal to their manufactures and will only buy from their manufacturer of choice.
Yeah and, thats what marketing is all about, getting customer loyalty. Unless Nacra and Hobie dip there toes in the water and build a 16ft boat then they can only loose more customers to AHPC which in turn could threaten their F18 sales.
I personally am all for the big boys trying to set up their own class, it would leave the F16 class to get on with doing what they want as per class rules plus there would be other 16ft boats to race against. The handicap rating is so close that the gorilla on the tiller is going to be the winner.
If they are sucessful and hold a F16 Heavyweight or what ever competition and we want to join in then its not too hard for us to put a bit of ballast on to comply to their rules for the comp. Bit more difficult the other way.
