Wouter,

Doesn't crew weight/load carrying ability factor in somewhere? Light crews for 14's, med weight for 16's and heavy for 18's?

Your observations are very interesting and I follow your argument, but in lightweight boats, as already identified, weight is a MAJOR factor.

A heavy crew would surely kill a 14? So to be competitive F14 to 16 to 18 each would have to be sailed by a crew with the correct ratio of weight to required righting ability for that size of boat?

(A short heavy crew on an 18 need not apply )