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Although I'm not sure what A-cat and F18 news have to do with H17/FX-One...
That's true enough, it probably belongs in the 18 section. I love sailing, I love catamarans and I love my 17, but I also like to see what else is going on. Sooner or later those changes trickle down to other classes and levels, and it's nice to see it coming. And here is a little more catamaran cheesecake:
http://dnacat.blogspot.com/2010/05/pics ... boats.html From a more pragmatic view, these carbon rocket ships are damn expensive to buy (around US$22,000+) and own. A Kevlar sail might only go a season before the fibres (Australian spelling) fail, or a new dagger board (like the curved boards) comes along and immediately dates your boat. And it helps if you are a rocket scientist to be able to drive the new boat and take advantage of it's potential.
So the price of boats goes up a lot, the cost of keeping the boat at peak performance is up and the ordinary sailor who is content with his skills begins to feel isolated. This is not good for the development of "ordinary" sailing, and has led to the collapse of classes in the past. If that can be changed - I don't know if it could or should - but I like to see it coming.