Hi Rhodysail

One factor that must be taken into account is team size.

I am 6' 3" and weigh 205 buck naked.. so.. to race a H16.... I need an 80 lb crew...

To race an 18 foot spin boat... I need a 130 lb crew (I personally don't know ANY guy who weighs in at 130 lbs)

To race a 20 foot spin boat... I can get away with a 160 lb crew. (I still don't know many guys who fit the bill much less can sail)

So... no matter what the local sailing scene is...racing a Hobie 16 or a F18 are not viable options for me.

My point is that simply looking at the numbers of racers in a class in a region won't give you much guidance unless you happen to fit the profile of the class. Likewise... simply pointing to the number of boats on the line is not the complete story (unless you are at that ideal weight that gives you options for any boat out there)

IMO, a tremendous advantage of the F18 class was the ability to race the boat at Hobie 16 type team weights with smaller sails in the F18 class.

Final point, Of the I20 owners in the area... I can think of only 1 owner who weighs less then 190 lbs... Almost every I20 team is routinely sailing at least 10 percent over the optimal weight in a region where 15 knots is an atypical great day!

Take Care
Mark

PS (The particular 18HT that you reference was a unique circumstance and most of the boats fit between the F18 and Tornado in price (EG: Chris B's boat that won the LAC competition was not significantly upgraded from the stock Bim F18HT)