Jake,
Your original question was good or bad? You didnt define good or bad for for who, but if you are interested in a 18HT owners perspective, then here goes:

As a 18HT owner with I am very excited by the development Peter and others are doing to this boat. We had issues with the rudders not kicking up which Randy and others quickly solved this issue with a simple fix. We have an issue with the Jav2 that the rear beam hits in chop, slowing it down, Peter is experimenting with a solution. As far as sails, the class has already determined that the stock Bim sails are fast, faster than a couple of other prototypes that Randy did, but they are not very sturdy and they dont reef. So you dont really need new sails to compete, the BIM Sails are fast.

As far as other people doing development to the HT, I have seen lots of interesting stuff fromt the guys that were going to do the '03 Worrell in terms of rigging. Some of the class members are adding carbon spin poles and carbon booms and mid pole sheeting system. Some are also experimenting with new and different ways to snuff the spin (Randy's tennis racket is an example). I think this all good for the class and in the end, we want to grow the class. So the rules will hopefully work the developement to that end. We have decided that we are going to outlaw solid sails and outlaw getting the boat foil borne (althought I think that would be cool and probably pretty damn fast.)

But, I think that I wont necessarily have to spend a ton of money to be competitive for two reasons. The first is that I can pick and choose the modifications that really add speed and fit for my style of racing. For example I dont think carbon rudder castings will buy you that much speed and around the bouys the current spin snuffer system works great. I am psyched that Peter bought 3 sets of sails, now when I want new sails, I know who to talk to and it will keep my cost down, because I can make an informed choice and hopefully buy the best sails that will last for a couple of years. The second reason I dont think I will need to spend a ton of money to compete is that this boat has a pretty steep learning curve and being a light boat it is easy to mess up go slow. Sailing against the top sailors in this class has quickly shown that they are crushing me on the course because they are tuned into the boat, not because they have tuned the boat to be faster.

In other words, the sailor is making the boat go fast, the boat isnt making sailor go fast. So, no I dont think we will see everyone rushing to do all the mods Peter did. I like the fact that someone else is thinking about these problems/opportunities because I dont have a huge pile of cash to throw at this boat, and I dont have the knowledge to know what the best ideas are, so my plan is to let other people sort it out and only do the really fast mods after they have been really tested and proven.

The thing I like about the 18HT class is that it is open and we have few rules, I like the flexibility to make mods to my boat without worrying if it is class legal. I also like that we have very open communication about the boats. We all seem open and willing to learn and share ideas. I like this.

So, yes I think it will be good for the class. And, no I am not worried that I will have to spend a ton of cash to keep up. Will the difference between a carbon boom and the stock aluminum make you win more races? No, being a better sailor will win more races. And I agree wiht Mary that it will also be good for catsailing. We have added a bunch of guys from monohull and dighy crowd and thats good for the sport. Class building is a whole different topic.

And by the way, thanks for noticing the new web site. We are glad you are all checking it out periodically.

Bill - 18HT class