26 teams at the Formula 16 World Championship 2008

Did you that the formula 16 class had a world championship in Nantes (France) in 2008 and that 26 teams participated ?

All the sailors focussed on the F16 Global Challenge racing at Mumbles that year can be excuse for not noticing a bunch of French sailor of a little class known as SL16 take all the credit.

Look here at the video for proof !

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CuHEX9iG84c&feature=related

Wouter

And why didn't the French build the SL 16's to comply with the F16 rules?

I think that it fits in the box rules. Basically it is a youth double trapez boat, similar to the Hobie Max and Dart 16. Unfortunately their weight is around 140kg.

Cheers,

Klaus

It's all French to me.

I did try to get a ratification for the article about 2 weeks ago because it is false information but no response yet returned. I try to get more mail adresses where to send a mail to because it needs to be changed, this can be done by others also, The more protest the better it could work. It is a shame that this is happening.

bets bet would be to get text and video responses in showing what an F16 really looks like. I only have "onboard" video, but have started...

We could just turn up at the next event and enter a F16, nothing to stop us, anyway 26 boats at a official F16 event now that is cool and should go straight into the publicity machine.

Anyway the SL16 is a pretty fast boat, would many of us beat the young well trained whipper snappers,not sure.

In fact,

The jib on the SL16 is non-Formula 16 compliant in overall area. It is 3.75 sq. mtr. large when the F16 are only allowed 3.70 sq. mtr. Otherwise the SL16 appear to be compliant however.

http://www.sailing.org/15141.php

But of course that is not the issue at hand.

However, the error appears to be made by a newsoutlet (local newspaper) that also does youtube video reports. I guess they never knew that a Formula 16 existed while knowing about the Formula 18's and thus thought that the used title was a smart play on the situation. As in designs much like teh F18's in an appearence but sailed by youths and teenagers hence Formula 16.

Local newspapers are typically full of such oversights.

I guess that asking for a rectification is pretty useless. The news article has been outthere for a while and it is too late to change any perceptions this late in the proces. I feel that simply adding a few replies to the youtube posting will have to suffice.

That and officially registering the name Formula 16.

Wouter

Problem is that, I bet, the people that popsted that knew exactly what they were doing. We need to ensure that people do not get the idea that the SL16 is an F16.

Is it grandfathered or dispensated under the F16 rules?

Not that I am aware of.

Hans? John? Phill?

If so, does the international status of the SL16 (or any other international class within the F16 fold) automatically give international status to the F16. Logically that would be the case but beaurocratically...

I think that is stretching logic a bit far The Tiger is an international class but the F18 class had to go through the process anyway.

I guess dispensating the SL16 would have been done under my tenure and I never officially did so. Besides, the dispensations need to be renewed annually and I'm sure that didn't happen.

The SL16 however does adhere to the limits set under the grandfather rule and any individual crew can ask for dispensation by refering to it. This would be done on an individual basis and I don't except any SL16 crew to have done so in the last few years that I've been replaces as F16 class chairman.

Wouter

Wouter

I don't think any SL team would ask to join in F16 regatta's as they would sail at the tail of the fleet. I also think performance wise the difference is too big to grandfather the boat anyway.

Gill

The SL16 is an ISAF recognized class, see http://www.sailing.org/15141.php .
So why not focus on the F16 class and not look to much at other classes, try to change it around, let others look at the F16 class.

Agreed. But, what about the name confusion? Do we have exclusive right to F16 as a registered logo?

If its really considered an issue then the F16 class needs to get ISAF recognised. In Australia we'd say piss or get off the pot. How many boats in how many countries does F16 currently have?

Here we'd be more inclined to tell you to mind your own ****ing business.

Get over it Pete. I've stated over and over that my next boat will be an F16, so while I don't currently have the vested interest of many posters here, to a certain extent it is my business. I really don't understand your hostility to my comment.

The existance of the F16 falcon means you'll find it difficult to protect the F16 name (Formula 16 would be easier) But from the sailing world's point of view the best protection would be gained by becoming an ISAF recognised class.

You're rude and obnoxious, that's the source of my hostility. If you act like an **** you deserve to be treated like one.

How does the F16 Falcon affect the classes name? Or are you referring to the plane, not the F16 cat design? How would this be different to the F18 class, or is it officially called the Formula 18?

Ncik, I was referring to the plane. F18 is officially called Formula 18 and I assume F16 would actually want to do the same.

pgp, whatever. No hostility was intended in my post. I was proposing what I believed to be a solution to what I understood people thought was a problem ie. people muscling in on the F16 idea. The reason for the numbers question was to see if we you as a class currently meet the criteria to follow up on this potential solution.

Don't get me mixed up with the people who post here looking for a fight. That is not me.

Language is a wonderful thing. Trying to keep up in a foreign language is even more fun

The class name is Formula 16, but F16 is used as a short form just like the Formula 18 (F18) class. If you check the class website the rules refer to the Formula 16 class but the short form is indeed present there as well. Something we would want to clean up I think.

Now, there is the:
F14 Tomcat
F16 Falcon
F18 Hornet
Are there any F12 or F20 planes to add further confusion?

F20 Tigershark

My guess is that unless we have an international copyright the name doesn't belong to us. My thinking is that anyone could copyright the term(s) "F16 catamaran" or "Formula 16" and prevent us from using it, just as ISAF can effectively prevent our use of the term "World Championship".

Obtaining ISAF sanction, I believe, costs many thousands of dollars.

I've got the solution, we use "Euro-spelling", go with Formulae 16! I can't correctly spell half our Amercian words anyway, so it would be a blessing for me.

You Euro guys know I'm kidding, right? Actaully I am constantly AMAZED that you are all so good at our language, and I know most of you are fluent in more than 2-3 languages, it blows my mind.

When I was a kid, living way up North, they tried to teach us French, (and the Metric system!) but it didn't stick.

Then when we moved to Florida 12 years ago, the schools tried to teach my kids Spanish (or should I say, Mexican?) didn't stick with any of them either.

When I went to Switzerland and Amsterdam, I tried to learn some of their language (how do I say; I'd like a Beer please? and, Where is the Men's Room?), but I quickly found out their English is so good, there isn't a need for me to butcher their language! Really, one girl at the Zurich train station ticket office said, "Why don't you just speak English, we all do..."

Having you guys/gals (Kathleen) on our board is a great opportunity for us all to get a more World Wide view of things, thanks to all of you who are not Native English speakers for coming here and giving us a broader view.

Hey, I know my spelling's bad, but my typing is worse!

Aren't friendly posts good for the soul!
I think this situation with the SL16 is a bit of a Storm in a Tea Cup. Any serious Cat fan should realise the difference between them and us. I know one of the goals of the F16 General Council is to obtain ISAF recognition so hopefully it shouldn't be too long before we attain this and so ends the problem. However, I still think it was a bit cheeky of them to come up with the Title for this short promo video.
P.S As far as I'm aware the level of ISAF recognition applicable to our current Class size and structure doesn't cost a fortune, more in the region of $200 to $400 per year split between all F16 Association Members.

I hope you're right about the money.

So do I Pete because ISAF aren't exactly my flavour of the month. I wish we didn't have to be "recongised" by them but then this brings us back to the point of this thread and the so called security they can offer the F16 Class and in particular the manufacturers.

Some where along the line, I got the notion that the process to become recognized was laborious and expensive. After that the annual dues weren't terribly expensive. But, I think the upfront money is about $10k.

If I'm wrong I'll buy virtual beer for the house, all you can virtually drink! And submit three real public apologies.

Pete, I had a quick look on the ISAF website:
http://www.sailing.org/categories.php
It's not very clear to me what this astronomical subscription entitles you to, maybe somebody knows? (Scooby) But it's certainly a huge amount for us here in the UK and you in the US.
Although, I am pretty certain these figures have nothing to do with Class affiliations.

Those prices look like national member body fees (yachting UK, yachting Aus, etc.), nothing to do with classes.

At the bottom is says classes $165

ah, missed that through all the other fluff.

I apologize, I apologize, I apologize!

I have it on good authority that the fees associated with ISAF are far less than I thought, about $2400.

The GC is looking into the matter and I'll wait for them to make a statement at the appropriate time.

Well Shoot! If we spread that out amongst all 24 of us, that's only what, $100 each?

And for what?

I forgot already...

How you doing?

Slooowwwllly getting better.

Today she let me drive...the lawn mower.

But it's a start.

No wind, so no sailing.

But at least it's 96 degrees out there, on that lawn mower.

96f ! You know that's 35c . We're struggling to reach 20c here
Are there any fish in that lake ?
Come home to Oireland son and we'll look after you and make you better.
Seriously, glad the recovery is going well and you are building your strength up again.

The SL16 is the ISAF Youth Cat and is built by Nacra in the US. Another Yves Loday design, same as the Spitfire, Shadow, Shockwave, Dart 16 etc.

Thanks for the offer Dermot! You know I would love to get over there! And it sounds like you guys have invented "outdoor" air conditioning!

Well, it's full on summer here in Florida, we had a monster of a thunderstorm come through about 2 hours ago, all kinds of branches down on the lawn I just mowed! I'll be back out there tomorrow raking up all the leaves, branches, etc.

I heard they had hail not too far away. It was blowing 50 across the lake for a little while, you should have seen the white caps! What a mess the yard is now. But we really need the water in the lake, it's still down about 5 feet.

Oh, thought you'd get a kick out of this, our typical overnight low temp in the summer is...77F. That's about 25C I think, but by 2pm it's always 94-96, every day, until about mid September. There are a few fish in the lake, Large Mouth Bass, a few Alligator Garr (the fish) and lots of real Alligators too.

Take care. Got to go help my son with his dirt bike, he crashed it and bent the handlebars. (yes, I made him mow half the lawn, the back half!)