We never claimed these things, it is the other side that has intepreted the things we did say as such. Not our fault.


No boat is weight insensitive, not are the F16's. We are however less weight sensitive then many think us to be. Also it has more to do with the new modern hullshapes and the high speed of the boats then mast and sail combo's. I think I have written 1000's of times that the older Taipan 4.9 (my own boat) is noticeably more sensitive then the newer boats like Blade and Stealth F16's. The higher speeds and spinnaker have moved the onus much more to sailor skills then crew weight. Currently angle of attack limitations are holding the boats back more then crew weight differences do.

I don't think that anybody said that the F16 goes upwind like a N20. As a matter of fact there interesting differences between the two boats. In strong winds I have no trouble beating I-20's when going upwind, in light winds I do my very best to even stay close. It is also telling that the best US F16 crew fought a 60 minute upwind battle with the best US I-20 crew as recently as this years Hagars run. F18's were trailing behind. But I don't think that this is sufficient ground yet to claim "An F16 goes upwind like an N20"

We do claim however that F16's go upwind like an F18 and that has been proven many times over. Most strikingly at the Alter Cup qualifier area D last november. You yourself (on an F18) had to yield to the McDonalds on an F16; and I'm talking about elasped time finishes here, no handicap calculations. You've lost 4 out of 7 races to that F16 crew and that would have been 5 out of 7 if thay hadn't hooked the finish bouy anker line.





And I fully agree with you on this statement. If an untruth has been told by any F16 owner then I'll be among the first to admit to that. Problem at this time may be however that we didn't tell any untruths yet.

I'm sorry

Wouter

(Thanks for this bickering, I enjoy it ! )