>>If you are looking in Europe, your best bet is the Spitfire.

That is a bit of a hyperbole.

I'm trully sorry but I have to be confrontationally honest here.

Despite my best efforts (also contacting the Spitfire association and the single Dutch owner) I've failed to attract a single Spitfire to the Dutch Coast Challenge; this while of the 9 boats listed now in total (10 is cut off limit) we see 2 Taipans, 1 one-off F16, 5 Stealth F16's, 1 Blade F16 and 1 available Stealth charter.

F16's outnumber Spitfires in all nations except UK, Ireland and France and even in UK the Spitfire lead is not that significant. The world and also Europe is a lot bigger than these three nations. Certainly big enough to disproof :"Sales outstrip by far, before F16 takes off, non-existant". Although, I will fully underwrite that the Spitfire class is very active in the UK (or rather England) and has seen good attendence on their events. Although we can argue over "20 boats or so".

With regard to F16 taking off. To late, that has already happened. There were events in US, Aus, South Africa in 2003 and for 2004 we'll see (and have seen already) more events in these area's as well as South Asia (20 taipans with spis sold over a period of 16 months) as well as the Netherlands. More good news is coming, waiting for the final clearance to come through.

Granted we have had no 20 boats event yet, that honour is Spitfires, but I rather see several simultanious events of 5-7 boats in area's spread out over 5 continents than a single 20 boat event in one area. For obvious reasons.

In the worse case we loose UK but win everywhere else.

I think that would be a trade-off we're willing to make.

(I warned that this post would be confrontational, but in this honesty is kindness and note that my focus is to be inclusive and not to be rude or anything)


Having said this, I will repeat and underline what F16 class said from the beginning and what I've said to Reg personally and have wrote to the Spitfire association. As the F16 class we strive for inclusiveness and are looking to include the Spitfire design in a combined 16 foot racing/sailing scene. This is not because we have to, and I'm really not exaggerating here, but because we want to and because the F16 class was founded on the this ideal. Also there is no point in competiting with eachoher and if an design is as good as the owners claim it is than entering it in a more open format shouldn't scare them.

We will continue in this inclusive stance and hope to welcome Spitfire sailors. If not than we wish the Spitfire class every succes that may be in the pipeline and when a crew names one-design sailing as an important consideration be sure to expect me to refer them to the Spitfire class. I've refered sailors to other classes in the past, so this is no empty promise.

With equal candor I can say that no-one who contacted me about fast 16 footers ever named one-design (OD) sailing as an important consideration. The F18 class has thoroughly put away with the concept of one-design sailing; certainly the more restricted single manufacturer one-design sailing (SMOD). I personally believe that (SMOD) is a thing of the past and that OD is surviving by virtue of the Tornado and a few smaller classes that allow sailors to buy aftermarket sails and gear within reasonable limits.

But back to inclusiveness.

If you like Chris, than the 10th spot in the Dutch Coast Challenge can be yours. I much rather join hands with Spitfire (as with all other high performance 16 footers) and present a clear and well organised 16 foot alternative to sailors than get into a zero sum game with Spitfire. The latter, more confrontational, setup will end in one class of boats taking a dive, slowing down the 16 foot potential and evetntually disenfrancize a group of (wrong) boat owners we should charish. I don't see the point in that. Especially when looking at the Spitfire - F16 comparison. These boats are so similar in many respects that it is almost foolish to compete with eachother anywhere but on the water. Moreso because Formula sailing and one-design sailing are not mutually exclusive. Take a look at the Hobie Tiger setup. Afterall, as found in handicapped sailing, the better crew nearly always wins anyway. In the much more comparable Spitfire - F16 comparison this should even be more so. Afterally ; 95 % of the sailors do this thing for enjoyment and fun, how better to achieve this than by cooperating. I'm certainly not going to post on the Spitfire forums that the F16 is the better option to sailors than the Spitfire, if you catch my drift here. If anything I will invite them to join us and have fun. Notice the difference in approach ?

Last but not least, small builders like AHPC, Stealth, Dynautic, Swell catamarans need to understand their position in the catamaran scene. Despite what we think we are SMALL when compared to Hobie and PC. By joining forces we can better stand up to the big boys. Because rest assured , as soon as any of us start to move in on a significant portion of the market a swift and powerful reaction will follow. F16 is already seeing that in one area.

So Chris, please familiarize yourself more with the F16 setup and concept and maybe join us in the DCC (24 july - 1 aug). Please also note that Spitfire is losing and has lost the plot outside of UK, Ireland and Northern France. Please note that for several years now the F16's and foundation design Taipan have outnumbered the Spitfires in all other European nations. Don't simply assume that the UK situation can be projected onto other area's. having said this I think the Stealth is doing alright in the UK as well. Certainly the numbers actually sold in the UK do tend to make me believe that. But maybe more important of all is that there are simply no one-design Spitfire races outside of the UK and Carnac. What is the point of having :"... a one design race circuit before the F16 takes off" when one has to migrate to the UK to actually be able to sail in a Spitfire OD race once or twice a year while the F16's lets you race in events near to where you life and stimulates improving your personal skills by racing anything, anywhere at anytime without installing the mental block that everybody must sail the same design to make sailing fun.

Our hand is reached out to you ....

Wouter