Pepin

In North America.. the largest one design fleet turnouts (not even nationals) are Hobie 16's. (In the 2010 season... See Madcatter Regatta..,. 35 plus boats. Next in line is the A class (midwinters... 30 or so boats... F18's are third at their Spring Fever regional. Hardly Obsolete! ...and my essential point is... that if you want to attract racers from cat racing classes... then you need to address their issues....

Sounds like the target market is quite a bit more fractured in the EU and you don't need to market to Hobie 16 sailors. The risk of course is that the EU scene fractures some more with lots of 16 foot one design classes fighting for market share and occasionally agreeing to level racing under the F16 umbrella.

Calling a CLASS obsolete is not right. Fact of the matter.. in North America ... THE CLASS of Hobie 16's is probably the best organized class going and they generate the best turnouts. Fact is... they are the leader in North America cat racing and quite strong in other parts of the world as well. The need for a two person non spin boat race cat is clear in the North American market. Notice that there are lots of non spin dinghy classes that are quite old as well which meet the needs of dinghy sailors.
Perhaps the word you were looking for is Classic?