Originally Posted by Dazz
I dont know if its an indictment of the decay of the f18 class or the drop off in the number of people reading this website. If this topic had of come up and phrased like this one say 10 years ago there would be hundreds of posts defending the weight of the f18 and a heap of f16 zealots criticizing the high weight of the f18.

Next time the f16 boys are giving you a hard time as the boat struggles up beach you can remind them that history says the F16 never really got to fleet sizes enjoyed by F18 and never will. Ultimately i think the foilers will take over from both classes somewhere in the distant future. (may not even be in my lifetime)

There is no point in changing the f18, its fine the way it is. But is suspect somewhere down the track the same organisation leverages it associations, marketing and personnel to make the F18F (foiler) class.

I will put my crystal ball away now laugh



The best thing the F16 class can do is open up the rules on foiling and close down the rules on materials, pricey carbon masts etc. The new boats from Nacra and AHPC can accept a variety of foils. The Nacra 15 would also be F16 legal, and like the A, in sub foiling conditions the old F16 will be just fine! Would make a great class to go alongside the foiling N17 as a feeder class for youths and weekend warriors who don't intend to make a run for the Olympics. The tough thing is controlling the bleed to these boats from the F18. The better sailors I know want to sail in the largest class with the most competitive sailors, and the F18 is down a little in that regard, the N17 will have top level competition, the A-cat is attracting those guys, as is the Moth and Wazsp to a certain extent. We just need to keep the F18 format exciting and appealing to the masses like Hobie have down the 16.


Scorpion F18