Certainly if Hobie or Nacra would join, more pro sailor will join. So I understand his logic. However the class would be different.

Of course you have to invest in a mould, but the larger part is manual labour. At least for beach cats. You need no different tooling for different boats. Assume you pay 5000$ for a mould (an uneducated guess from my side), after 10 F16 boats it is just 500$, after 100 F18s it is 50$. So the difference between F18 and F16 would be 450$ per boat. Of course if you have very high overhead costs (i.e. not directly related to the production), volume makes a difference. But then why should I have mercy with a manufacturer who has his cost not under control.
And before somebody misunderstands me, I do not point against a certain manufacturer. I do just not understand the logic that lighter boats should be more expensive than heavier one.

Cheers,

Klaus