Mark,

Sounds like things are different between the UK and USA in this respect. I believe that one of the reasons why F18 is so successful is because it is attractive to manufacturers. The box rule is tight enough that you can be competitive on an old boat, but sufficiently loose that a manufacturer can introduce a few tweaks each year to the point that people who have the cash can justify upgrading. This also creates a strong second-hand market which grows the class.

I agree that in order to grow the class we need more boats on the start line, but that doesn't mean you have to have a loose definition of F16. As I keep saying, the successful Datchet event didn't need the grandfather clause. It was Stealths/F16s vs FX-one.

Paul