1%.
You guys are bickering over 1%.
This argument, were it a race, would be very exciting. Sadly it isn`t really.
I agree with some here - beating some F18`s with an F16 only proves the boats have very SIMILAR performance, in SOME conditions, assuming a SIMILAR level of pilot skill.
I have beaten Tigers on occassion and passed some of them downwind, on a boat that rates 12% slower, but chances are I got the gust, the right windshift or I just was more tuned into the boat on the day than the other guy - it doesn`t make my boat faster than an F18. Of course I LOVE to gloat a bit after the fact, who doesn`t ?
A 1% theoretical difference in performance is impossible to analyse and hardly worthy of 5 pages of debate. So what if a F18 is rated as being 1% faster than an F16. If you`re a 1% better sailor than him, or have 1% more control, you`re in with a chance. The probability that different classes WITHIN F18 and F16 are 1% apart is highly likely, given the variety of designs and hull shapes within each class, yet they will be happy to race one-on-one. The problem is that most F18 sailors would NOT be happy to race against F16`s if they are going to get beaten by them on line, most top F18 sailors would have no problem with it since they KNOW that their skill will still have them out front, and if they are beaten by an F16 they know it is a skipper of equal skill, it`s the mid-fleet F18 guys who would prefer to have their own division so that the smaller boats do`nt show them up.
But the truth is that the F18 class would prefer their own division almost all the time, since ANY competition to their class is unwelcome in much the same way that Hobie have distanced themselves from other classes - It`s purely a commercial decision, so don`t hold your breath for F18 to welcome F16`s to race one-on-one. It won`t happen.
Ultimately both boats cater to a different market completely - lighter smaller boats work well with lighter smaller crews, and the big heavier boats cater well for the needs of bigger, heavier (and stronger) crews.
In a perfect world, we`d all be happy to race with eachother, given that the boats have similar performance, but that is not likely to happen without bruising some egos, it seems.
