Tiger Mike,
Sorry, I snapped at you. It is the frustration that builds up over time without any single person being fully the cause of that; so in effect I have no justification to snap at any particular person as the cause is the combined effect of many. Forgive me.
Lets see about the points you raise :
My mistake. If I understand things correctly, under Rule 6.1, Pretty much any cat under 5.3m and has a jib of between 4.25 & 2.75 sq m could compete (more or less)
And it must be slower or equal in rating relative to the F16's as well. And it can ONLY compete in declared OPEN F16 class events. Mostly likely this will exclude important events like worlds, continentals, etc.
The grandfather clause is actually more restrictive then many understand it to be. Also it only allows design to be grandfathered that are already pretty similar to F16's in their general setups. These additional facts must be appreciated.
It must be compared to racing Nacra 5.5's with F18's at more leasurely events and not with mixing Nacra 6.0's or Tornado's with F18's at important class events. And even then only when the local class head considers such limited mixing to be in the interest of the F16 class.
Rule 6.1 makes most rules negotiable.
See my comments above. I really don't agree with this particular statement. But more importantly I don't see the benefit to any builder putting himself outside of the F16 rules set this way. It will always result in a inferiour performing boat. This, of course, is never in any way unfair to full compliant boats. The Grandfather rules as stated make sure of that.
I don't sail the boats but have several friends who the F16 concept fits perfectly.
...
In Australia you can front up with virtually anything you like. The rules are simple - If it measures it's an F18, if it doesn't that boat can go and sail in misc cats. To my knowledge that is the same anywhere in the world for F18.
The F16 is very similar to that, with the exception that the grandfather rule allows older boats and modified boats to be part of the F16 fun, under well defined circumstances that is. Having said that full compliant F16 boats will always have the advantage in racing. So this leads to a stuation that everybody can get into the fun, even on a shoestring budget, while the racing among full compliant boats will stay fair. If such a setup is not beneficial in a local setup then the local F16 class head can decide to hold only F16 event (as in CLOSED F16 events) and then only full compliant boats can enter. Every area must make this decision on their own. In my local area the OPEN class setup is an attractive way to build the F16 class, in your area it may not be. The F16 rules allow you to choose the best setup for the local circumstances.
But I truly think that we are making to much of this flexibility that is build into the F16 class rules. What are we afraid of. A hobie 16 with spi being entered ? An Australian I-17 with spi being entered. I can assure everybody that this has already been done and the outcome wasn't at least unfavourable to us. What if a mosquito catamaran enters an Australian Open F16 event and wins. Then that skipperd would have totally killed everybody if he had been on a full compliant F16, meaning the other teams were no where deserving enough to be placed higher. Such a skipper would have overcomed a 5 to 10 % performance difference by superior sailing skill alone. Would you feel better if he had beaten all the other crews by 5 to 10 minutes to the line while sailing a full compliant boat ? What is the difference ? His sailing skills were superior in no small magnitude anyway. How does that take way sailing enjoyment or make the racing unfair ? He choose to enter with an disadvantaged design and won anyway. I say celebrate that skippers "can-do" metallity and admire his remarkable level of skill and then pick his brain for go-fast tips. All will be better for it.
I personally don't really believe in "sail my class or get out of my start fleet" mentality. I think it has done the cat sailing scene alot of damage. It has been good to the F18 class but its succes killed off so many other classes that served other needs really well. One-size doesn't fit all.
I'm very happy to see several F16's racing in my club races next year and have the F18 sailors welcome us. They see more competition on the water as a good thing and will congratulate you with a race well run. That same welcome we extend to sailor looking to get into modern racing on a small budget. And there only converting older designs is an option. Eventually they will upgrade and pass on their old design to another newbie. We are all better for it.
But if you don't want that than talk about it with your local class head or declare your event to be a (closed) F16 event. Problems solved.
Wouter
