Okay, I have to admit to one thing here.
I refuse to talk about the F17 in earnest as I feel it is a BS name. It is nothing more then the old Single Manufacturer One Design (SMOD) I-17R with an added slightly bigger spinnaker for heavy weight skippers. Spi luff length is still the same though so area is pretty unimportant anyway. The new F17 name is a direct attempt to confuse, by blurring the borderlines between SMOD and (true) formula. The marketing deparment knows very well that SMOD is out of fashion.
It is neither a formula class in any way, nor is it a new class. Personally I think it to be the school example of marketing BS. And I'm not at all ashamed to say this.
And it gets even better still. The F17 name is not even used anywhere outside of the USA. In Europe they changed the name to Nacra 17.
Source :
http://www.nacra.com.au/inter17.htmHow many different names does this boat have right now ? 6 or 7 ?
Inter-17 (Aus), Inter-17 (EU), Inter-17R (USA), Inter-17XL (EU), Nacra F17 (USA), F17 (USA), Nacra 17 (EU).
And they all use the same platform in the way of design and dimensions. The Aussies are only building them lighter with Kevlar and Carbon fibres.
Currently I count 4 different rigs, this is the main difference between the models anyway. 5 different rigs if you count the heavy skipper entlarged F17 spinnaker as a seperate rig.
The European Importer looks like he is going to add another seperate design to the market place. Go to
http://www.nacraeurope.com/nacra17.phpand look at the specs.
It has a smaller mainsail area then the US I-17R (= F17) and it uses the larger F17 spi size as standard and it looks like it will be using the old alu mast. On the other hand both its mainsail and spi are larger then former I-17 (EU). Additionally this version is still not comparable to the Hobie Fx-one, so still has no real shot at becoming a true formula boat.
Personally I feel the US I17 (I-17R, F17) is a pretty decent boat, but the music chairs syndrome with the different names and builds is bordering on rediculous now.
Take my advice on this guys. This is not the way to build a succesful (international) class. Choose one particular setup, stick to that and make it work internationally. Otherwise the class is too fragmented by far and you will far to sensitive to direct competition.
Wouter
