Yes - the only reason I responded was because you were wrong on a few points:

I do, in fact, want performance and I got it.

I have not "tied the hands" of development by my choice of class - development is happily rolling right along, even within the F18 class. Rule changes and designs that enhance performance or safety come out all the time in the F18 class - witness wing masts, full-batten jibs, etc.

I am not driven by fear to try somehow to limit development. Nor am I stubborn and without vision, faith or enthusiasm, nor am I afraid of giants or deserts. Spiders, though... they freak me out.

Rail aginst whatever you want - I do all the time. But try not to make it personal. Your post and others in this thread seem to fault a specific population of sailors with hobbling the industry by being close-minded flat-earthers, while others who have seen the light struggle valiantly to keep from drowning in a sea of poorly built barges of steel and stone. Personally, I looked at where things stood in the US two years ago and decided that F18 would see significant growth and I wanted to ride that wave. I haven't done the math on the exhange rate between USD and New Zealand, Warbird, but it cost me far less that $20k to get a new boat in an exciting class. After 10 months on this boat, I have zero regrets.