Social??? Have you ever been to a Melges party? There are more women at a Hobie 17 party...
Part of our problem is that our boats are cheap, but not cheap enough. $10,000 plus for a new Hobie 16 (cheapest glass racing boat and the one that started it all) is just too much. Not saying that they can be made for less, but that's a lot of money. Used boats follow in price. Gas prices aren't helping the big regional events, either.
Mike
I remember being at a large mixed regatta at Columbia, SC several years with the M20 came out. I had my 6 month old Nacra F18 (1st gen) that I paid less than $14k for on the beach when several of the guys that owned new M20 came over to look at my boat. They were blown away with the low price of the F18 and couldn't get over how much boat I got for the price. I think they paid north of $25,000 for their Melges 20s.
