I don't know what the class rules are for the Formula 18HT, but if all the stuff he is doing to that boat is within what the Formula allows, I think it's great! This is not a one-design class -- it's a FORMULA class.

Everyone keeps lamenting that we don't have a "development" class. If the F18HT class can fill some of this gap, what's wrong with that? And gains will never be made if we don't have some people with enough money to take a chance on experimenting.

He has no idea whether his modifications are going to improve the boat. And he has no idea whether his modifications are going to help him win any races. But he is willing to take the gamble. If his modifications work, there may be ideas that can be useful to other existing classes and also can have an influence on future designs.

Being a Formula class, just as the A-Class is, I assume that people who cannot afford to spend a fortune modifying an already expensive boat can build a boat in their garage and apply all their own creativity and inventions and come up with a very fast boat that costs less than a production F-18HT. Would you also object to that?

Anyway, is this kind of development good for the F-18HT class? That is yet to be determined, but it has not seemed to hurt the A-Class. Is it good for the sport of sailing? Definitely!