Jerry,

Just a couple of points.
1) Sailing with wings adds a level of confort, and is very fun. Like driving an interactive video game as you have view of the whole boat from the extended perspective.

2) Adding wings places a whole other level loads on the boat. The F16 platform is light becuase extra material is removed. They are still fairly robust, as the design has not been taken to the extreme of something like the A-cats, but I would venture to say that the addition of homemade wings on any of the designs out there would cause problems. The ability to keep the boat at or near class minimums and provide wings all at a price someone would be willing to pay is another factor. The H17 or TheMightyHobie18 wings weigh very near what a whole F16 hull does.

3)The addition of wings provides very little if any improvement in total performance. It is only a factor in certain conditions and certain points of sail, all for the addition of weight, cost and complexity. Look at the TheMightyHobie18 and the TheMightyHobie18 magnum. There is no noticeable difference in those boats performance going around a course.

Jump on a light weight boat, with properly rigged sails and controls and you would be amazed at the control you can have in a huge range of conditions.

Matt