Mark,

What do you mean about the Nacra 6.0 spinnaker for nationals? From what I recall, the sailors asked to have the New England setup approved but Performance instead offered their own (and different) setup even though there was already a measured rule, a substantial number of New England class boats already in existance, and even a Portsmouth number. As far as I know, nobody has purchased the Performance offering but several more have upgraded to the New England rule on their own.

The Hobie 18 initiative to update the boat with a square head? I'm not familiar with that one but I suspect it was not approved in order to support the existing class racing. If you're talking about the 18SX, that thing left a bit to be desired in speed.

We're diluting the definition between a one design class and a box rule and the Tornado example is not a good one. Most I20, I17, I18, N6.0, etc. sailors bought into the class for one design, one manufacturer, racing. They don't expect to have to buy a new upgrade every three months in order to keep up with the Joneses (correct me if I'm wrong Bob). At the very least, they should be notified of future changes in time to voice an opinion and protect that which they have invested in. Or maybe just so they can budget for the upgrade when it comes out. The aforementioned boat owners that I know personally expected that they were in a one design class and have been pretty surprised by the recent changes. On the other hand, it would not be easy to create a sailor driven organization to control boat parameters without the close involvement of the manufacturer. How can you tell the manufacturer that they can't modify the trampoline design to a much easier and reliable style to make? You can dictate what size and shape spinnaker can be used and a minimum boat weight (as long as they don't start getting built heavy). Hopefully somebody out there in California will recognize that strengthening their sailor relationship could go a long way to enhanceing their business.

That being said, I'm all for forward progress even in a one design class. However, it should be done slowly and certainly with the involvement of those that have a vested interest.