Just a little comment on the US DPN-
The US F16 DPN was based on the US Taipan 4.9 numbers and results with spinnaker modifications computed in.
The US DPN is based on "real world" race results as supplied to the DPN committee. When the Taipans were first introduced into the US I was one of the few people racing the boat cat rigged or solo so most of the results sent to the DPN were my results while most of the sloop results were represented by such sailors as Jim Boyer, Greg Goodall, Glenn Ashby, Lars Guck, Peter Alarie.... Need I say more? I mean I don't think I'm a bad sailor but coming off a NACRA 5.0/18square to the 4.9 was a big adjustment while those other guys I mentioned are awesome sailors and definitely far more capable of sailing the sloop up to it's potential. For instance, when I picked up my boat Jim was there with his daughter racing a demo. 4.9 and he was beating the (then new) Inter 20 (with a good sailor aboard!) around the course in most races boat for boat (NO spin on the 4.9).
As regards the comments about "optimizing" the boats- all my racing to date has been with a "sloop" main while the dedicated 4.9 cat sailors in Aus use sails with a different cut. There is even a "cat rig" mast for the 4.9 of which I have one with a cat rig main for it and it is definitely a better sail for cat rig on the 4.9 vs a sloop mast and main. Only problem for F16 is the cat rig mast is too light for a spinnaker (and I consider this a good thing since it precludes any type of an "arms war" for uni vs sloop masts in the class- see comments about the Nacra 5.5).
As for a versatile boat, at that same regatta where I picked up my boat I raced one race with my son on the boat sloop- he was terribly seasick the entire race and spent it hanging over the front beam wretching! Between races I dropped he and the jib off and sailed back out to enjoy racing the rest of the day while he enjoyed watching from the beach! Boat behaved and sailed fantastically and I knew I had found the perfect boat for me!

Just some thoughts from an old US F16Hper-

Kirt
Taipan 159