Here in the San Francisco Bay Area the A class cat (potato chip) fleet is exploding in popularity. The Santa Cruz Yacht Club has no fewer than eleven A's (five more than last year), and Cali. wide, the fleet has drawn the current I14 World Champ,and runner's up as well as a gaggle of essentially professional and world class skiff sailors... To be honest, if I weren't buying a Moth, i'd be calling Matt at V marine to get one of them Italian potato chips to put atop my F16 on the trailer... Additionally,the fleet has a powerful cross gender appeal as two of the top three Acat sailors in Cali. are woman (who wants to bet $10 bucks a lady makes the podium at the Worlds in '07?).Since Doc was (priorities?), often off, restoring site to the blind this season I alone was left to halt the Alien invasion and to ponder why sailors pick the Acat over the clearly superior F16...My point? As a fleet the F16 has some great stuff going for it and I respect the contributions of you talented zealots who've created something out of nothing with the international F16 fleet!But, if I were granted four wishes for the F16 and on behalf of the greater good of the class i'd :
1. eliminate the tip weight (sea worthiness - Que!?) rule for the mast. Reducing weight aloft (maybe as much as 30%),would be an important performance and marketing advancement for the class. 2. Reduce the minimum all up weight by a proportion equal to the weight savings conveyed by carbon beams and kite pole. 3. Lifting foils and unlimited rudder gudgeon extension aftward. 4. Let us stiffen the platform by eliminating restrictions on the tramp.
Yes, i'm aware of the oft expressed notions of keeping costs down; avoiding making the class a $'s battle and the questionable performance benefits for the extra $'s...It is though healthy to occasional raise the issues for consideration...
