Whoa, Mark, be careful not to mix the issues. The F18s are a development class, and sooner or later, dudes with cash will appear and push the envelope (custom boards, etc.); Olympic guys or not has nothing to do with it, it's just a mindset and an open set of rules.

To answer Jake's question, the H16 class is already highly tightly controlled (class rules changes take forever), so other than MAYBE making that even harder, I doubt much would change. Then again, H16 sailors see the strict SMOD and tight class rules as an appealing part of the class. YMMV...

EDIT: I spend some time around Lasers. From what I can tell, other than "those guys" buying new boats and/or sails more frequently, the class rules are super-tight, and there are no boat development escalation wars. Rank and file sailors seem to be pretty happy with this setup, and the opportunity to sail against "those guys." The H16 class and the Laser class are very, very simliar in terms of class rule culture.

Mike