Hi Jake,
didn`t mean to hit a nerve with the "obsolete" boat comment. All I meant was, as you agree, holding a class regatta outside of F18 will be tricky. Perhaps they should have just called it the M&M F18, and dropped the Nacra label, would start a new class that fits in F18, positive outcome is that a new OD class could then also grow out of that if numbers allow. In some areas / countries, F18 does NOT exist but Hobie Tiger OD class does, even though you believe they are not OD because of all the changes, they are closer to OD than SMOD, (except that you STILL have to buy most bits from Hobie ) If they (Hobie) decided to change the hull shape it would adversely affect sailors in these areas / countries. You would then have Old Tigers and New Tigers, a situation that is undesirable, even if on paper they all have equal performance. As it is with Hobie, you can buy an older boat, do a few upgrades and be at the sharp end of F18 sailing (skill permitting, of course !) That`s what I meant by their strategy - keep the boat the same as long as possible. I`m sure if another make starts winning F18 convincingly they will launch a new boat, but would be remiss to call it a Tiger (in my opinion.) I think Nacra might be hurting their own sales potential by launching a new boat so soon after their latest model (ie yours), it gives sailors the impression that they are not stable as a supplier, like the new car market you wonder how long you`re going to find spares these days because they change models every year.
Just an opinion, like everything I`ve ever written it could be wrong.