I race against a well sailed 9.1 on Lake Michigan all of the time. When the wind is under 8 kts, neither a light #1 nor a .5 oz chute would be enough to make up for their speed advantage. The only way we can (and sometimes do) beat them is being smarter or make fewer mistakes.
The other side of the coin, once the wind gets above 12 the tables are turned.
Though I wasn't at the NAs this year, I somehow don't think a 1/2 oz. would have made the light stuff any less frustrating.
