I'm sure I missed an inside joke somewhere in the beginning of this thread, but this post concerns me:

"...PS i think cat sailing is in decline mostly due to the barriers to entry into the sport (equipment costs, equipment tranport) and other sports that have lots of thrills, and no equipment to tow..."

In my experience, if any portion of sailing is in decline (BTW, lots are of segments are declining, while others are growing), it is all about one very simple (yet so complex) issue:

What are YOU doing to get new sailors into the sport, and to keep them engaged?

Notice, I didn't ask what your fleet is doing, or what your class is doing, or what your fairy godmother is doing; but, what are YOU doing.

The only time I've ever seen growth in our sport is when individuals step up (normally with help from other individual members of a fleet) and make things happen.

Learn-to-Sail days, and the sorts of things that bring in new blood, are the only thing that will grow the sport.

Fun races, and small, focused race clinics (with beginner-to-intermediate focus), with good social events (campfires are usually the best), are key to helping them grow, stay engaged, and form bonds within the group.

Equipment is still cheap if you're using the right platform.

If you have "graduated" up to a big, complicated boat, your only hope to grow that class is to draw off of intermediate or high level sailors from existing classes. This does not have a net gain, the overall growth needs to come from the entry-level classes.

Mike