That's a tough situation for Aussie sailors. Having lived in both Aust. and the US, given relative disposable incomes in each country I would say that it's a lot easier to find USD13k (say) in the US than AUD20k in Aust (though my perception may be biased by my own circumstances which may not be exactly typical). Even based purely on the current exchange rate, an American sailor is well ahead.

Wouter, how much of your 13,000 Euros would you say was (or was not) spent on the hulls? Or to put the question differently, if you start with just a set of hulls, what does it cost beyond that to equip an F16?

Mark.