I knew, or at least thought, you would respond with that. I was looking at pictures of the Taipan 4.9 at the Wildcat Regatta (http://www.floridamultihullsailor.com/wildcat02/wildcat02_p1.htm) and frequently confused it for an A Class. Not until I looked closer could I tell that it was a 4.9 uni. They are nice looking boats.



But the point is, why don't Hobie and Performance build one? There is a market for the A Class and, according to them, a market for the I-17 and FX-1 or they wouldn't be producing them. For those who bought an FX-1 or I-17 or 5.5 uni, why not a Taipan 4.9 or other F16?



If an I-17 weighed 200 lbs, I might own one of those instead of my A Class.



OK...now for a little side track....Just think about this....there are 20 year old Hobies out there sailing. What a stupid idea from a manufacturers standpoint. Cars are built to wear out faster than a Hobie Cat. If Hobies lasted only 10 years (still a long time) think how many more boats they could sell, replacing the boats that are over 10 years old. Are they "missing the boat"?



Lastly, although the idea of making a living building sailboats sounds cool, let's face it. We cat sailors are all a little flakey. We say we would really like X, but vote with our wallets when we buy Y. I prefer to make my living in something a little less volatile, like software development (bwaaa haaa haaa).