I think that most of this is harmless tinkering, but clearly overkill to get back the 8 pounds. To make it class legal, he's gonna need some lead when he's done (can you buy carbon lead?). A lot of us are threatened by big spenders (quick, name some RICH catsailors other than Nigel and WF), but I agree, we can't and shouldn't legislate dollars. Certainly not in a development class. Sure the boat could drop 20-30 pounds, but then the class has to worry about obsoleting EVERY boat out there. Ain't gonna happen. Don't worry, be happy. The boats ARE gonna get faster, he may just be changing things quicker than most of us could. I admire anyone who sails this at 280 lbs; think I might have bought a smaller-than-max sail and mast :-) Not like he couldn't get another set later... See, I'm sniping at the $ too :-) Could be worse; could be dropping lots more into a lead sled to make it go .1 knot faster. Finally, I'll note that there isn't a real min. wt. 2 person spin boat beachcat class like the A-Cats (unless you count the M20 as it's own class?). There's a market niche to further split the fleets :-) Of course, even the A-Cats COULD get lighter...
Chris