There's issues with getting them right now. Production keeps getting pushed back, which is to be expected to be honest. But they are starting to roll out.

Better platform quality wise? I don't know. My small exposure to the Phantom F18's was just looking at them at Worlds in Long Beach, seemed to be a quality product. But I think that is true of most of the boats. The Flying Phantom looks incredibly stable, and it's had buckets of money poured into it's development. I think the 17 was kind of shotgunned into position.

At this point, yeah, I'd say it'd be a better platform, but what do I know. I'm in the frozen north where my own boat doesn't get used. I'd just base that on stability. It doesn't matter how easy the boat is to sail. The level of competition creates challenges all on it's own. Squeezing that last freckle of speed out takes dedication, skill, and practice. I think the 17 would create a more level playing field if it were either straight boards, winglet rudders were added, or if it got the flying package like the Carbon 20. The A-cats weren't running C boards for very long. 5-6 years? They didn't move away from it because of the awesomeness.