Hi Wouter,

Like I said, I've tried to find out how much my boat weighs from Nacra, but they seem kind of evasive, to say the least. As you know the boat is set up for one crew, nonetheless I asked if only one guy could do everything that was necessary to sailing and caring for the boat. The answer was yes. Maybe the right answer is yes, if you weigh enough.

Also the dealer explained to me the chronology of the Inter 17 thru the Inter R17, to the F17 and unless I completely misunderstood, the Inter 17R and the F17 aren't the same boat. So it well may be that Texel did not weigh any F17s. Frankly, I didn't think any F17 had even made it to Europe yet.

Your last paragraph kinda tickled me. I'm new to this forum so I read a lot of it before I posted. I noticed you and some of the guys get into a bit of a tussle now and then. I think if you told some of the other guys they just blew almost fifteen grand on a mediocre boat, even if it does have a carbon mast and other goodies, they might not take it very well It's a little bit like buttering a guy up, and then when he's off guard, shoving a blade in his back. But Wouter really it gave me a good chuckle. I assume stuff gets lost in translation from one language to another. But anway, I'm not quite ready to trade in my boat just yet. It's a 2005 model and I can't afford a new boat every year.

You might be right that I need a water bag, because I'm like your friend. When it starts blowing I hold back, and it irritates me because I want to push it harder. But I've had the same experience as your friend, when I dump on a windy day I might be out of commission for an hour or more. If I could get up in a few minutes I wouldn't care how often I went over. It just wouldn't be a problem; and my rate of improvement would be a lot faster.

Hey before I forget, read what I asked Jake about loosening the downhaul. I'm interested in your thoughts about that. I'm don't get how that would help matters.

Daniel