Steve,

You're right about one thing - I do seem to have a sensitive nerve about this!

I guess this could be a glass half full / glass half empty kind of thing. The way I look at the fact that Nacra makes a lot of changes is that here is a manufacturer that has embraced F18 and is trying to find a competitive edge. While, on the surface, it does make older equipment first appear to be quickly obsolete, I do have a manufacturer that is doing a lot of development to keep me fast (and this includes the old platform too) and is not worried about making compromises to keep a SMOD class happy.

With regard to SMOD classes - I didn't buy my boat for SMOD. I bought it to race F18 (OD) as did most F18 sailors worldwide. As you indicated in a different thread, I can buy any fitting or rig just about any way using any line I want - or have a sail made the way I want...this is what I like...I can even make the whole boat in my back yard if I felt up to the task.