SoloWildman,

I purchased my I-17R at the beginning of the 2000 sailing season and raced it here in Michigan until last year, when I sold it. It is a terrific boat to sail, and, IMO, is the best that there is in single-handed spinnaker boats. I have not sailed the F-16 but have sailed against a Taipan w/ spinnaker and the BIM F-16 and prefer the NACRA. The main reason for this preference is that the NACRA steering system allows the skipper to dial in the steering so that it is possible to put down the tiller and deal with raising and lowering the spinnaker without significant change in direction. It is a controllable process. Other single-handed spinnaker boats might not demonstrate this characteristic. It is a problem with the Hobie FX-1 according to two people who have sailed them (I have not).

The F17 from NACRA is a single manufacturer one design boat that has incorporated some of the thinking that makes the IF18 Class so competitive, in particular, the allowance of a larger spinnaker for the heavier sailor and making lightweight sailors carry weight to get to the minimum weight. The stock F17 spinnaker is about 15 sq. meters, and the "big boy" spinnaker is near 17 sq. meters, according to my dealer. We have seen this development help the class in Michigan, and the class in the US has seemed to grow in conjunction with this change. There are some F17s sailing in Georgia and Florida, and right now, there are 21 F17s saying that they will be at the North American Championships in Traverse City, MI this coming September (a Great place for a regatta).

In the US, there is no market for the standard 17. Your investment dollars are better spent on the carbon mast F17/I-17R/N17R (all these are made by NACRA, but have undergone name changes since first introduced in 2000). Any changes being done to the latest F17 coming from NACRA can be retro-fitted to an older I-17R.

I switched to the A Class begause I always wanted one, not because the F17 wasn't fun! This year, I will get to see if I made the right decision.