Maybe the reason you "don't hear" anything is because the owners of N-17s are exclusively Olympic hopefuls (that's why they bought them) who are actually SAILING and training in the gym and elsewhere and it's highly likely they feel their time can be better spent improving their sailing than getting on a forum and trying to convince someone who rarely sails a cat anymore, that any shift from perfection is not the end of the world and a Doomsday for catsailing. Maybe you should try getting up with some of the owners and actually ASK them what they think. Personally the only thing that interests me about Olympic sailing is the people involved, as long as it's on a challenging boat. I think too much is made of it's importance to the sport.