Mark, the -only- reason I bought into the F16 class was the flexability to race Uni or Sloop. If that option did not exist, ie. F18, I would have bought a used A cat instead. Not everyone has reliable crew, and not everyone wants to race the F18. The F16 class offers that flexability and really isn't concerned with grabbing fully crewed teams who are F18 compatible, size wise. If a big crew comes out of the H16 class looking for a spin boat, the F18 is the way to go. If instead it's a smaller pair, or parent/child, and they occaisionally want to race even when their crew is not available, the F16 is the only choice.

It really has nothing to do with worrying about some Racer X boat coming along and undercutting the class.