Rolf, it really is what you are as a personality, do you like Ferrari sports style cars or American muscle hotrods, both achieve a desired goal, but just get there in different manners.

I do like the ease of use of the A, really easy to rig, 20 minutes max, and launch, everything about them is refined and subtle and yet fast across the water ( I've seen regular 19 knots of speed ). Upwind you can take on other boats and know you are going to be an equal if not ahead, tacking is dinghy like, mainsheet is light, uphauling from a capsize is a doddle, everything is about refinement and ease of use of the A.

But the F16 solo is really not much different in reality, a little slower, less refined upwind perhaps but still a damn good boat( I think aero dynamics of the snuffer and less developed rigs are the cause )and with a bit of tweaking of our class rules, would be pretty similar.

But where is the adrenaline factor " I'm goner scare you today " which the F16's do on a regular basis. Downwind the A is just a sled ride, safe steady and fast. Pop that spinny, heat it up a little and the F16's is a big grin factor. That one aspect has been the one thing that I missed from my F16. I am willing to forget the longer setup, forget the slightly heavier weight, forget the additional sail maintenance costs, just can't forget that one thing.

I think that the A is over penalised on handicap to the point of the rating as ludicrous ( is it faster around a race course on average than a F18, not a hope, so why does it rate higher than the F18 ), its costings are not nearly as high to run annually as I thought, its not as fragile as some make out and is a stunning little boat, but I enjoy for the moment Endurance motorcycles, mtbs, rally cars, the tougher less refined sports and not road cycling / track car racing, the well refined sports.

So for the moment its back to F16 style boats next year but my guess is at some stage health and mobility will dictate that an A may well be back on the cards at some time in the future.

As to boards and foils, go straight to the curved foils and be done with, it will complicate things to such a point as you will think why have I fitted them but with your Blade you are going to need all the help up front as you can get. Also there are a number of A reject boards about at the moment that with a bit of strengthening could suit the higher downwind speeds that our spinnies produce, it will take you out of class ( for the moment ) but they will offer something different. Alternatively what about some A straight boards, there are now quite a few sitting about, redundant. Rudders again A class of about 5 years ago, perfect.