Maybe this will stir things up, and I am sure it has been conquered before BUT why didn't the HT take off? Why is everyone still sailing boats that weigh 400 pounds? Why wouldn't the popularity of the A class change some of the other classes (admittedly a cats certainly have durability issues, right? but you don't need to make them THAT light). I talked with someone recently who certainly knows what he is talking about who said he talked with one of the F18 manufacturers who stated that he had to try hard to OVERBUILD the boat to get it up to weight. Isn't the era of 400 pound 18 footers coming to an end yet? Even 400 pound 20 footers should die soon.
As far as reliability/durability, I haven't had my boat for very long but I see no reason why it won't last as long as any other boat.
Soooooo... WTF is with manufacturers that still make boats heavier than they need to be? There are minimum weights, etc etc, but when do you think the regular F18 class might decide to shed 100 unnecessary pounds?
What is so compelling that the weight of the most successful cat class introduced in the last 25 years be changed? Overall the F18 class is still going gangbusters.
Lowering the weight will probably improve their performance somewhat but then again will that extra knot of boat speed make them more enjoyable to sail?? Probably not. Will it make them more flighty and more difficult to handle in windy conditions for new people to the class? For sure.
Will the number of extra sailors that you attract to the class be more than those that leave because they are po'ed that their boat is not worthless because it is too heavy?
The very fact that HT didn't take off world wide is a strong indication that having the lightest class weight is not the most important thing when building a successful class.
Why did the founders of the class choose 180kg as a minimum?? Who knows. I'm sure there would have been a reasoned explanation at the time. Now, for better or worse, that is the weight for the foreseeable future. I don't see any compelling case to change it.
Tiger Mike
