If you are doing everything right Wouter why do leading members of this formula panic if someone mentions that some of the boats have production issues? Why is this discussion being had? Maybye stop always wanting to be right, look up out at the course, because it has changed, you are not starting it up now, ( and good on you for the energy you have put in and still do) you are trying to grow it past people who understand how good the boats are to a bigger field.
Organised, financially successful people with the money for these boats are used to minimising risk and dealerships represent a minimisation of risk. In the absence of dealerships other strategies must be used and an excellent "monkey mail" is one way around that.
To say people not should break parts and want new ones is..., well it's piffle and what about the revised faster foil that someone might want to upgrade to?!
Maybe I am wrong but you seem to have a real thing going about Hobie.. maybe get over that and study what we think they have done right, not what they have done wrong.
My "babble' is just shooting the breeze about what may or may not work. It's only turning over rocks looking for an answer, so if your hackles are raised, chill out and remember, you are preaching to the converted.
Something about Hobie. F16 must show they are faster than Hobie at every oportunity. Like cars.. "A win on Sunday will make a sale on Monday"... if the interested know how to buy one.
I noticed somewhere here that Hobie is going to ban other boats from thier races... Did anyone wonder why?
Something has just struck me..maybe fighting the 18s and big brother is the problem.. The bigger men on these boats will not go back to a smaller boat. Maybe F16 needs to show how much faster than the older style 16s it is....... Maybe that is where the people will jump from.
Why not decide how to take the people on H16s off them and onto F16. Why not target that huge demographic specifically?
Liberate these people from those agricultural field plows and onto the real deal! Save them Wouter, they are fellow sailors after all! Have invitation races for H16 sailors. They find out how slow their boat really is and then get a ride on a Taipan!... yes yes or blade etc.