The Marstrom system is a rod system, but an inelegant one.

I've got the AHPC rod system on my vintage Tornado and have sailed with the Marstrom system.

The Marstroms have an excellent section and weight and craftsmanship. However, keeping them locked down has been a nightmare. I expect they were adjusted properly, as they were bought second hand from Charlie Ogletree. They do use a rod hold down system, but with a delrin rectangle at the end of the rod and around the tiller to hold the rod down, and with a spring loaded catch with a delrin roller to hold the rod down. The problems we have had were with the hold-down catch not doing its job, and we've often resorted to tying down the arm with a velcro strap. Without the rod tiedown, the system is very easy to raise and lower.

The Marstrom foils also tend to crack at the "step" just below the rudder stock. Many at the nationals had this problem. It must be a real revenue generator for Marstrom, especially at their premium prices. Oh, and the left and right Marstrom rudders are not interchangable. You can't buy just one spare. :-/

In my experience, the Hobie system is painfully unreliable, and the foil quality has been poor. The Tiger foils have probably made a great leap this year, however, with the introduction of new foils from Mitch Booth. Still, the lock-down mechanism on my old boats made me hate-hate-hate them.

The AHPC system on my boat is very light, very simple, and very effective. The price is great. There is no slop whatsoever. The Taipan 5.7 foil, which I use, have a Tornado profile but the foil section is considered noncompetitive compared to the Marstrom in Tornado circles, but that's irrelevant to 99% of sailors.

I'm so impressed with the elegant AHPC foils that I'm dreaming of buying a Viper F16. The problems with the AHPC system are *very* minor: the rod hold-up hole stress plate is unnecessarily rivetted at the highest stress point of the tiller (where it meets the stock and is rivetted to it), and that's where my tiller broke when a guest skipper landed on it. The kick-up rod tends to roll-off the top of the round tiller arm as it activates, which makes me worry it might ever malfunction (but it never has). It can be a little fiddly locking down in the surf. And you must reach back and pull up the middle of the rod to unlock it.

But I happily tolerate these trivial details because the mechanism has been 100% reliable and take-your-breath-away light. Just holding them makes me dream of having an AHPC boat attached to them. If the viper is as well thought out as these foils, then it will be an awesome boat.

My source told me the Viper would be available at the beginning of this year. We'll see. Also, I heard from Robbie Daniel that the Capricorn F18 is the most completely assembled out of the crate of any boat he's seen, with most everything integrated in the front beam and pre-rigged. I expect the Viper F16 will be similar.