In the North American F18 racing, the small sails do not seem to be at a disadvantage. Admittedly, the worldwide competitiveness of the North american fleet is not on par with Europe. With very few exceptions, stock sails are on the F18s in North America (there is only one sail that is not from the OEM that has a Measurement Certificate), and whether it is large sail plan or small sail plan, it is still the skipper/crew that wins the races. It is interesting that when it was proposed to eliminate the small sail plan in the class, North America overwhelmingly voted in favor of keeping the small sail plan. Here, there are many male/female teams that need the small set.