If there are sailors out there that want to sail boats with curved foils, go by an A-cat, F-17, or Nacra F20.
Leave the F-18's out of that game.
Would this then doom the F-18 design to obsolescence?
Sort of like when the N20 rule kept an outdated sailplan?
But I guess there are still many huge fleets of outdated designs (laser, Opti, Star, 420, etc)
Jay, the N20 didn't die because of the "outdated" sail plan! If that were true we should have seen the N20 resurrected from the ashes when the p-cola group created a new class allowing sail plan development. You also need to ask yourself why the F20C class hasn't blown up.
Many consider the F18 obsolete right now and so freaking what! I didn't join the F18 class because of its light weight and carbon fiber!
Like Karl said there are several curved dagger board options out there, leave the F18 alone. I for one feel very comfortable that straight daggerboards will NOT be the classes downfall. When racing class do we really give a sh!t if we don't have the latest go fast gizmo? There is a lot to be said for stability. When someone lays down 20K+ for brand new boat only to find out that they need to upgrade their boards at the tune of another $2400 can get you thinking, is this class worth the expense?
We also need to ask ourselves who is bringing the proposal forward, who do they work for and are they really considering the impact to the weekend warrior, which by the way is the core of the class. What is good for the pro's can often be at the expense of the amateur.
