We are building both A-cats and F16, and get quite a few calls from people questioning which of the 2 they should look at getting into.

Both are excellent platforms, light responsive, fast and very fun to sail but the choice of which one is for you depends on what you want your sailing experience to be.

The A is essentially a 1-up racing machine. It is the epitomy of simple for a set up standpoint with only 1 sail and being so easily moved around. They are sensitive beyond sensitive as far as tuning adjustments and very technical from a driving stand point to make them go fast. It is a finesse ride. There is a good class although only in certain regional pockets. It is rare one will venture out in a blow, but for the loner finess racer it is a good fit.

The F16 gets down there in the wieght catagory, making it also a very fast and sensitive platform. The selling features are the versatility. If you do not allways race solo you have the option. The addition of a spin provides not just performance but a real adrenaline rush. Relatively light air days are now fun, and the boat can handle quite a blow, and being you can take 2 out you feel safer venturing from shore when it is up. The sensitivity is still there for learning fine sail control, and for those want to continually improve their skills there is a pretty big curve in learing to run an asym spin well off the wind. The racing class is our biggest weak point in getting more involvement as it is so new. The people involved though are doing a supurb job of getting it going from out of nowhere.

As a class are we going to get more people involved by making boats more than they are now. The Blades we are making now are 110kg. If I added carbon beams and mast we would be quite a bit under min weight but at a considerable increase in cost. A couple of people may want to buck up for that but I do not see that as something that is going to provide a class growth. We could remove the tip weight, but look at the guys who have been racing A's for any length of time, they all have been through a few masts. A little bit of weight for a little bit more strenght is not always a bad thing.

The banana foils on the C class have proven to be very difficult to control and places some limits on the conditions the boat can sail in. Another cost feature for limited benefit. The A class is now fighting this for no other eson than to try and protect the growth of the class. They increase the cost of the boat with questionable results and present an impression that non-banana foils are obsolete, lowering the resale of exisiting boats and limiting those who would want to come into the class new.

We as a class had better look closely at what we are doing to try and grow this. What are we selling, if it is unlimited development, are we moving in the dirrection of the C-class as there are only a handfull of them and less than that that are cometitive. If it is good cometitve formula racing with the ability to set up to your own preference then lets promote that.

Matt