I feel as the governing body we have to examine closely changes to ensure that they help continue to grow the class and not hinder it, no matter our personal opinions about what may be "better" or cool for the boat. We are a development class but in the extreme we can easily go the way of the C or the F18 depending on some of these choices.

1) Tip weight - As Phill pointed out, if we remove the tip weight rule the apparent advantage is goint o fall to the Carbon masts. This is significantly more expensive and potentially more fragile than the aluminum sections. The cost to advantage gain, I do not feel is worth it and the current cost of these platforms is at the high end of what most people ar willing to spend. We are not a class with a huge base and providing any boats with a percieved advantage will only help obsolete the others in the eye of the buyers and help to alienate people who are already in the class.

2) Adjustable foils - Same for this. Added cost to the boats and the poetentail to create an impression that it is a must have feature.

Personally I do not like the tip weight and feel that if you want to add complexity to your rig with adjustable foils, good luck, it is hard enough to keep the boat going the right way fast without having a couple more things to adjust that could easily be providing as much of a detriment as a gain. However, The F16 concept is perfect for me and I want to see that the class keeps growing. More and better sailors continue to come in and a used boat market develop sto help expand the base. Do anything to make it more complex or expensive is a detriment to this growth and something I feel should be carefully avoided.

Matt