Bundy,
Congratulations to you and Carolijn on your finishes at Carnac. Very good showing.
You know the Euro personalities better than I do, but is it a good idea to chastise the class for poor attendance? In the US where there is arguably a relatively large number of F16's almost all of them sail in their local pond only, and there are just a few who travel to actualy try and race to promote the "class". The F16 is definitely a racing platform, but it is attracting a wide variety of racers, and those who are serious racers are very few in numbers, and an event like Carnac is an intimidating place for the casual racer.
A additional hinderance to the F16 class growth with the serious racer, is the identity crises that is being driven by our own class. Handicap numbers are fine to provide a casual racing scene for the mix and match boats. If I am going to a large event I would hope to sail F16, and spending a lot on an event like Carnac to find everyone signing up for what ever "handicap" advantage they can get for themselves would be a bit of a dissapointment.
The successful classes grew in the past on branding their class. F18 was F18 no matter the boat. The H16 class is not out with multiple ratings although by rights it is possible.
This class did not exist a few years ago. Then it became a paper class, and now there are real teams and events, the class is recognized virtualy everywhere, even in places where there are no boats yet. Now, thanks to you guys some higher level promotion happening.
The continued growth of the F16 class can only help everyone, if we band together to make sure that is what is promoted.
