I've sailed the named boats myself and I would like to stress that you really should try all available singlehanders with spi.



Your options as far as I can tell are



Inter17 R

Hobie FX-one

Taipan 4.9 spi

Stealth F16



A-cat = non-spi but worth considering anyway. Great boat / great class.



There is one actually Stealth F16 going to So Cal. So this design may not be so exotic as some like to point out; well at least not more exotic than the FX-one in your parts. Donno about the I-17R.



Anyways what I want to express is try any of these boats if you can and make your choice then. That is all !



Why ? you might think, well because the other three who did sail the boats in question, ended up with a F16 HP (1 Taipan and 2 Stealths). And I'm not even counting the guys like Michael who only sailed the Taipan and not the others. So letting sailor try and compare the boats is our strongpoint.



Ohh BTW, there are some reports of test sails with FX-one to F16 comparison on our forum by other guys looking to buy such a boat. They are really and totally independent of the class, because they are trully outsiders



I will give you the link :



Huw testing the FX-one, Spitfire and Stealth



But, like I said, don't take my word for it and try all boats anyway !



Mind you we do have a good class organisation with support going; check out our forum and the discussings that are featured there.



www.geocities.com/F16HPclass/ [/url]





Regards and may you be happy with whatever you choose,



Wouter