I weighed a few boats at this year's Morth Americans and the 2005 boats weighed about 20 lbs. less than the older boats. The lightest was about 320 lbs. (When I had a 2000 I17R, it weighed 345 lbs. with the stock blocks and sheets and 340 lbs. after buying carbo blocks and lightweight sheets.) There was some variation due to changes on the older boats that made them lighter (blocks, sheets, spin. systems, etc.) as their skippers were upgrading to newer systems.

The best of the F17 sailors were finishing races near the top of the F18 fleet which started 5 minutes ahead of the F17 fleet! The Europeans were astonished and said that the F17 (carbon mast) would be very attractive in Europe if people knew how fast it was.


Les Gallagher