Matt, you completely took me the wrong way there.
"Jeez, Steve - who pissed in your cereal? BTW, there is no carbon in the 16, except for aftermarket rudders. "
My first line, and last, clearly state the intention of my post (with a little humor), was just to provide some info based on what I`ve heard. Anything I wasn`t clear on, I put it that way, which is why my comment on carbon used in the hulls had ?? at the end. I had heard the French boats had carbon reinforcing at the beam junctions in the hulls, which would be a good idea to strengthen the boat where maximum loads occur. I did not say that they are making older boats obsolete by building carbon hulls, which we know is not happening. Why are you so agitated ? I re-read my post, correct me if I`m wrong but it was not insulting to the boat, class or sailors. I think all the Hobie-bashing on the forums is getting to you. Sorry if I offended. All boats have their strengths and weaknesses, and we should be able to discuss them openly without getting all upset. If you read the post on the ARC 27 on the open forum, you`ll see praise and criticism form different parties.
Yes, that pic you posted is of the qualifying rounds, which all the good sailors got through one way or another and subtleties in sail shape made no difference as long as you kept it pointing up - the difference is that the actual races that decided the winner were held in very light winds, so much so that a "race" consisted of a beat and a run, SAF, the shortest course possible. My point was that, in these conditions, guys who had practiced all year with more powerful sails, were slightly slower than Sean, as he had practiced with the same sails as used at the worlds, and could get more out of the boat in light winds than they could, whereas in the lead-up to the Worlds they were competitive with Sean, he blew them away in the last few races.(Willaim Edwards finished 21st I think, while beating Sean at SA Nationals).http://www.smoothsailing.co.za/hobie16nat05rslts.html

It`s not whining about having less power, when it is the opinion of the sailor who WON the Worlds about why he had the edge on the other SOUTH AFRICAN sailors, what would he have to whine about? As to why he beat everyone else, make up your own mind.


"The minimum weight hasn't changed in 23 years."
So what you`re saying is that Hobie only started building boats down to the class minimum weight a few years ago, there are hundreds of thousands of H16`s out there then that are not quite "one-design" ???
Matt, sorry if I offended you by stating my opinion, if you have read other posts in which H16`s are being unfairly criticised you might find my name to a post defending the boat - I crewed on one for many years and enjoyed the boat thoroughly, especially in a good Westerly in Port Elizabeth.
I was just trying to point out that you will find differences between any two Hobies, any two lasers, and any two anything elses out there, most of which (including a 20lb weight difference) the average sailor would not even notice, but the top sailors will most definitely.