Ah...

The evidence has been reported that there was no performance advantage.

No one is saying it's an accident... it is an error in judgement for sure!

Now you have elevated the charge to cheating. ie willful disobeying the rules!

I don't think you can make that stick. The jury at the Worlds did not make it stick... Reinforcing tape is a measurable performance edge?? for real???

I bet the back story is all about market share for sails and who can stab who in the back without being noticed.



This the legend of past Hobie days... Blah Blah, rock star, had his boat specially fabricated, so its fast while joe schmo gets an ordinary (slow) boat. I heard these stories back in the day... I think it's a function of the strict one design mentality and the crap that you had to buy .. This mindset does not apply here.

1) The F18 class allows custom sails... the team get get what ever they want custom made so long as it measures in. So.. no problem... Joe Schmo can get the same service... he just has to know what to ask for (oops)!

2) There is a reason all boats are given unique names.... They are all individuals... Some boats, just like cars, just have that special thing... Ie... it's a fast boat. One of the very successful Olympic teams used their 10 year old Marstrom....not there newer boat... It just had that speed thing.. Why?... who knows.

At the top level... it's all about the mast...the nature of alu extrusions make them all unique and some are fast and others are not. Sorting through masts is part of the game... NOT a special advantage afforded the rock stars. Rock Stars know enough to discriminate. The Tornado's had to change to Carbon Fiber sticks to cut the crap when a development war in alu sticks made the playing field uneven. Again... Rock stars don't have a thumb on the scale with the builder, they have hard earned knowledge that makes a difference and they use it.

The playing field is level... its just a tough group of competitors on the field.