To all,
MarkP's original comments about the Blade did not bother me at all, whether it was serious or a joke, because I figure the Blade owners are perfectly capable of defending their boats. There is certainly nothing wrong with discussing the pros and cons of the various types of boats within the F16 class (if it is done in a civilized way).

What bothered me a LOT was the way some of the Blade owners responded by attacking MarkP personally. To an outsider, it looked like petty, partisan bickering. It looks like the F16 class is not unified, but, instead, is a bunch of separate one-design classes with the boat owners trash-talking each other.

It just seems to me that if you want this formula class to succeed, you need to be welcoming and open to as many different brands as possible and that everyone in the F16 class should be supportive of ALL the brands.

Maybe you need to change your mindset to think F16 instead of Blade or Stealth or Taipan or whatever. On shore (and on the internet) you should all be cheering each other and encouraging each other and helping each other to improve, and leave the competition between brands for the race course.

Ultimately, in order for the class to succeed and the racing to be as fun and fair as possible, I would think the goal would be to get all the F16's to the point where they are as equal as possible in speed. That may require some cross-pollination, so to speak, until the boats start to look more like hybrids as they find out what works and what doesn't and borrow features from each other. That can only happen if you think in terms of "F16 Class" rather than a specific one-design class within it.