Dave,

I can speak from experience as Chris and I constantly crew my F18 at about 395 lbs. In 5knots or less, we can be competitive. In 5 to 10 knots we get murdered - when other teams start to fly a hull or get one person on the trapeze we really start to go in reverse. We've been working on our downwind technique in the lightish breeze and aren't loosing quite as much downwind in this stuff but upwind continues to be frustrating. That being said, Chris and I have had some great successes. We qualified for the Alter Cup last year on the F18 and we tied for first last weekend (but lost the tie breaker) with a competitive fleet of 6 boats. Unfortunately for us, the majority of the Alter Cup was sailed in 10knots or less and although we had terrific starts and were in the top three at most first A mark roundings, we would constantly slide backwards through each race. If the conditions are right, we can do very well. However, if we are going to continue to try and be competitive, we are going to sail the Nacra 20 more in the future - Chris just bought one David Mosley and I sailed the F18 North Americans together at a crew weight of 345lbs - and we were the 4th heaviest team out of 39 boats! Even then we felt at a little disadvantage in 5 to 10 knots which might actually indicate that there is some room for improvement in my boat setup for this wind strength.

The growth and competition within the F18 class is certainly inticing and I would really like to see you guys in it. However, if I were in your shoes and choosing between a Nacra 20 and F18 and with the likelyhood of constantly crewing the boat in excess of 350lbs (more like 370), I would lean heavily (pun intended) toward the Nacra 20.