You drew entirely the wrong conclusion from my statement. Perhaps I didn't explain myself properly. I mean for a class to succeed (or fail), boat weight (high or low)is relatively low importance compared to other characteristics and circumstances.
I agree with that entirely. I find it interesting that this thread turned from an attack on heavy boats to the defense of the 18HT. I don't think there's anything wrong with the 18HT - it's just a boat designed for relatively smooth water sailing than, say, a Nacra 20.
Just when stupid comments like "RIP THEIR TRANSOMS OUT" come up I get defensive because people remember those type of statements but seem to forget all the other failures of all sorts of other boats. People were looking for a problem with the HT and that satisfied them despite the evidence against other boats. It gets perpetuated even though it happened once. I bet you could find a N20 that has had that happen, but no one ever mentions it. I am not trying to malign N20s, F18s or whatever, just trying to make a point that it is unfair to make that comment about the HT.
The question still stands though- why are manufacturers making such heavy boats?
