Sorry, we've strayed a bit off-topic (I'm as guilty as anyone). I think we need to go back to the essence of the original post:
tiger850 wrote:
I want to race my 2008 Tiger as a One Design. I want to race my Tiger against other Tigers, sailor to sailor. Right now it would appear I have to go to Europe to do so as there doesn’t seem to be venues here. I hope HCA will take the leadership position and resurrect the class and have a program like there is for the Hobie 17, 18 and 20s. What I will do is support any event that does have a “real” one design format that would accept the Tiger. I appreciate HCA supporting One Design sailing and have been an avid member of the organization for years. Next year at the Seattle NOOD, I will again register my boat as a Hobie Tiger One Design not a F18. If no other Tiger wants to join me, I will withdraw. I’m over with trying to compete on a field that is in no way level, it just isn’t fun anymore.
He doesn't want a new boat. He wants to race his current one as one-design (OD).
Before, I go further, please understand I am not a Tiger fanboy or apologist. I have some platform upgrade plans of my own that don't involve one. In my below statements, I'm simply trying to make the case that bringing the Tiger back to an active one-design class might not be as hard as it sounds.
First off, there is still officially a OD class. Rules are clearly specified by the HCA (Link
here) and were, in fact, recently updated. I briefly skimmed through them and for anyone that's read the H16 or H18 requirements, they should look familiar. In general if it's Hobie supplied its golden, otherwise, your out.
As far as I know, changes to the Tiger platform more-or-less stopped when the Wildcat was released. I think that was roughly 2009 - at least in N America. I am not all-knowing, but am not aware of any design or component changes since then. That has essentially frozen the design. This means that all the existing boats that are out there can be brought up to a certain level without fear of further significant movement.
So, let's look at what's changed: Correct me if I'm wrong, but I believe the hulls, foils, beams, mast, and spin pole are all the same. That leaves sails and rigging. From a rigging standpoint, the change from roller furling to self-tacking was one of the more significant ones (although I'm not sure how much of a performance improvement that was as opposed to convenience). Another was the spin sheet block position (for newer flat-cut spins). All told, the sails seem to me to be the biggest change over the years. Sail area has remained constant, but the distribution of that area has changed.
So, if you get an older boat that has not been upgraded already, you'd need to spend some money and make some changes. Looking at the relative costs, I'd bet that sails would account for a very large percentage of that cost. But aren't relatively new sails already a basic requirement to be competitive, regardless of class? Since most of the significant changes in this design were focused around the sails, wouldn't a new set (which you'd need to get anyway) fix 95% of the competitive issues between the various Tiger iterations?
I think the answer is (or should be) yes. But, if Hobie (or the market) decides its not worth it, then I go back to my previous assertion that it will be relegated to the fate of the many, many older boats that have come and gone before it, including my beloved H18: It's now a great recreational and learning boat, and that's all it will ever be. (and I'm OK with that!
)