Weight is a huge factor...

The big selling point of the 49ner was the wings were adjusted to the crew weight. A built in normalization system. It failed.. the wings were extended to the max and the class competition ousted the sailors who did not fit. The carbon mast was added years later to extend the weight range in breeze and make it more equal.

but... these are pricey pricey changes... 49ner acceptance world wide is no better then F18's...(who tried weight normalization with different sail sizes.

Not an easy solution around though.