I see classes for displacement in that, and nothing more. So if I show up with a old machine you think I'm gonna be competitive? I think not. Yamaha started this year putting the engine in backwards to get the weight more centralized in the chassis of their YZ450F, will it be the new standard? Who knows at this point, but I'd say probably. Cannondale tried it years ago, and it eventually bankrupted the company because they couldn't get the fuel injection figured out.

Its radical design changes like that, or curved boards that get me excited. A Hobie 16 makes want to choke myself. The equipment rules should be short enough that they can be written on the back of a business card. There should be certain boats that run the gambit with new designs that absolutely obsolete the older designs in a few years.

A few millenia of sailing and this is all the further we've made it?

And as far as the arms race? BS? Its racing, get out your check book and do it up. This has to be one of the cheapest forms out there, if Marstrom came out with a 200lb boat that fit in the rest of the F16 rules I'd order one up in no time, $30k or not. You can dump all the money into it you like, but it does come down to tiller time anyway. Am I likely to be the next world champion of anything because I have the best boat? No! But you can't throw the best on a piece of crap and expect them to do well either.