PAFF wrote:Nobody have answer WHY put the restrictions on in the first place!!??!!
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And DONT play the joe public card, his is getting a North-Naish-Cabeinha $1000 board anyhow.. Not the Sky-Bjoern-Bruno $3000 custom board anyhow.
but that's exactly it. the "Joe public card" is a driving reason.
Everyone would prefer being on an easy to order and cheaper board. The top guys are still paying for boards... they just buck up because it matters to them.
Also, most people would much rather spend time training (or just riding for fun) than tuning equipment.
Without restrictions, it's not that there will be more development, it's that the gear will get TOO specialized. Imagine a scenario where you have a board for 4-8knots, another for 9-15, another for 15-25, etc.... LAME.
A Box rule is a good compromise between unlimited & one-design, because it means that no one actually actively determines the line of 'too specialized'. It just sort of works itself out as a nature of box rules. They work well with sailboat classes.
With SOME restrictions, it levels the playing field a bit. = better racing and better for the growth of the sport.