In an effort to get back to talking about sailing, I have a serious question.
Lets say I wanted to get a smaller boat (which I do, and doesn't require a forklift on the beach) to sail with my wife. I would want a boat that you could sail 1 or 2 up (most often with 2) with spinnaker that has a somewhat active class. The total weight would be about 275. Take away the possibility of soloing, I would guess that the F18 (infusion, older Nac F18, don't know much about tigers). But the F18 boats are almost as heavy as my 6.0. Now the whole F16 issue is interesting because you can solo them (if I understand my quick read of the f16 forum). I take it the Blade (is this a brand of boat or type of boat?) is of this class. What is the weight of an F16 and what other manufacturers make them? And how active is the f16 class in the US?
Now go find some petrol to throw onto that bonfire you just lit
F18 = 180kg min boat weight. ( have no problem moving my Tiger about but some people bitch about it). F18 is the fastest growing cat class in the world and is a ton of fun. I was sailing my Tiger for a while single handed last Saturday and had no dramas. Went like stink and felt very lively. Dunno about righting it solo. If you can get a TheMightyHobie18 upright then the Tiger/F18 should be similar.
IMHO the best thing the F16 has going for it is light weight (104/107KG). Watching the locals learning the f16, they seem to be breaking all the same things that the F18 guys have broken in the learning phase. When buying them new (here at least) there is not much difference in cost.
Michael
