Thanks for the feedback, and nice sails!
I haven't made any purchases yet, but I'm leaning towards a classic set of sails. I figure a new pair of sails is a big improvement over my 30 year old sails, even if my sails only have about 5-10 years of use on them.
I like the classic sails because they should be the same as the standard H18 sails, so if I beat another H18 (or an F18), I know that my sails aren't the ONLY/primary reason, lol
It's just nice to have a "clean" baseline. And they're a decent price. Sure, the EPO's, solid mast and 5:1 downhaul probably have a slight performance improvement associated with them, but those are (or were at one point) class legal. If I stick to the original sail shape, so are the sails (not technically, but in theory it's still the same boat and same sail shape).
I've been plenty happy with the performance of the boat under the classic sails. Square top sails would be a nice little performance boost, and I know the laminate sails hold their shape MUCH better than dacron in puffs due to their lack of stretch, but from what I hear they don't last near as long as the dacron sails, and I don't really want to need to replace my sails every few seasons.
Besides for the cost of the Super R, I could pick up a classic main & jib, and a spinnaker!