>2. Comptips detract from optimal sail performance.<
This did not happen with the TheMightyHobie18 when the C-tip came out. I raced the TheMightyHobie18 during the transition period, and WHEN I switched to the Comptip it clearly made the boat faster, both upwind and down, forcing others to quickly upgrade.
In the late 90's the top H20 skippers were radically recutting the luff curve for the comptip as the C-tip would prematurely flatten the top of the sail. Did Hobie finally came around and recut their sail to match what the experts where doing to theirs?
Interesting what you say about the 20 mains. My 20 (a '94, with significant repairs to the starboard hull for some kind of bulkhead separation and cracking BTW) had a main that had been recut by the original owner. I always liked the shape of that sail and how it set and performed - it seemed to behave differently from other people's sails, as to what it liked for settings and such, and it seemed fast even for its age. I had always assumed the recut was to correct any manufacturing issues, but your comment now leads me to believe he did the mod you're mentioning. I had always heard that there was a difference between the cut of the original 20 sails and the newer ones, with different tuning techniques to get the best of either. I could never tell if that was legend or truth, but I knew my sail was different...
On sails and shape - the original main for my Hobie-18 was horrible. I had to measure out the sail, and each batten required different tensions (some loose, some crammed in hard) to get a near consistent shape. I then bought a brand new main from Hobie that was absolutely beautiful - battens ony tight enough to take out the wrinkles gave a wonderful shape. So if things were bad, they certainly got better.
My 18 had an all metal mast - even though I had the comptip I never installed it, mostly because I knew I was going to add a spinnaker. That boat was raced open class successfully, the only 18s I came up against never seemed to offer much in way of competition, so I don't know if a good comptip boat would have been faster.
