According to the folks I talked to in Thailand, the 17 was designed for a combined crew weight of 130 kg. They felt the 16s were a little too underpowered for olympic level competition, and that the 17 fit the specs much more closely. Not sure why lifting the foils would be a problem on the 17- you raise the foils on a 16 or 18 at the windward mark anyway, not much of a difference.
As for the 16s, I agree they are likely favorites. However, I don't see why Hobie would design an F16- why would you train on a Hobie F16 when the Olympics are OD in a Nacra or Viper?
