>>Note Texel is a formulae based rating which has some sweet spots. Portsmouth is a statistically derived rating based >>on real world performance. The amount and quality of the data determine the accuracy of the rating.

When looking at the I17R (F17) and the F16's I think you will find that there are no sweet spots that favour one over the other. If anything the F16's get a hard rep because of their lightweight but that is rather limited as de largest difference is between singlehanders and doublehanders as these two modes can easily be 100 kg apart.


>>An interesting race would be the I17R Texel rating of 103 and USPN of 66.7 competing against the F16 uni’s Texel rating of 101 but a USPN of 67.6


For some time, actually since the beginning, we F16 sailors regard the current USPN rating of the F16's to be a peach. We have request a faster rating in the past but didn't get it. At the DCC event this year the F18 rating of the F16's was confirmed. The boats can sail of that. At mixed F18/F16 race in 2004 in the US saw the F16 winning on first in wins as well. Simply put 66.7 is too slow. I trust that data from the Alter cup qualifier area D and Wild cat regatta (both held in 2004 and won by F16's) will be submitted to US sailing. If anything the F16's DPN ratings should be around 65 (A-cats) at minimum. I'm not to sure wether 66.7 for the I17R is fair either I think that should be closer to the A'cats as well.) I trully believe that the difference between the I-17R's and the F16's should be quite minor. At least small enough to race first in wins in most conditions. The new fully optimized F16's like the US build Blade F16, Stealth F16 and the newly launched upgraded Taipan F16, all especially so. I for one would propose to a group of I17R and F16 sailors to forget about handicaps and race first in wins. How much difference is there between 66.7 and 67.6 anyway ? 35 seconds in a 45 minute race. That is well within the statistical uncertainty and honestly alot smaller than the seperation between the first 3 finishers.


>>(The FX1 with chute is way behind the pace with a texel rating of 107 and very little US Data reported)

FX-ones were raced by F16's this year and from it I think it to very unlikely that they could race I-17R's on a equal basis. They may speed up in the higher wind speeds. I think 16.5 sq. mtr. on a 8.5 mtr mast is a whole lot to keep down on a I-17R. That is like singlehanding an F18 (17 sq.mtr. on same length mast and 30 kg more platform weight).

Having said this; the FX-one seem to beat effortlessly the standard I-17 boats (note R versions) in turn.

Right now the I-17 seems to have the better solo sailors. Most F16's sailors seem to race doublehanded more often (Seth Stern (FL) and the Californians being the exception)

But a race between I-17R's and F16's (solo) would definately be an interesting one. As much as the 2004 and 2005 A-cat/F16 (1-up) races at Gulfport.

Wouter