What I'm saying if a Co. that was in trouble and needed money (and would you agrue they weren't at the time?) could get it by way of a grant for coming up with something like a comptip would they do it?
You heard it from someone else that heard it from someone else... it must be true right? Not. There was no "grant" involved.
The CompTip was a response to people dieing from mast-contact electrecutions. Hobie Cat made this decision to solve the problem... not just defend the result in court as other companies chose to do.
Hobie Cat had an obligation to protect its customer base. To do that, Hobie Cat also gave away tens of thousands of retro fit kits at a huge expense.
The unfortunate side effect was changes to the class equipment, but less than 10% of the boats are or were involved in racing. Class racing could not be a determining factor.
Remember... we are talking about US courts and sue happy Americans. It has not been an easily reached agreement to allow the Tiger and FX to be sold here with their standard masts. The fact that they are Built by a different company... Hobie Cat France makes a huge difference.
