Here's the thing Todd, foilers need us more than we need them. The price of admission is 45k and the boat is significantly harder to sail than a non foiler and sailing is on the decline across the board. Do you really think foiling platforms are good for the sport? Are you foiling your A cat? If not, why not?
That's a tricky question. Some would say that the decline of cat sailing is because the modern boats have become more involved, harder to sail, way more physical, and much more expensive as is. We're been in decline for a long time, even before the boats started really changing. It's hard to say what the cause is. That topic has been beaten to death, with no real answers as to what or why. Realistically, probably everyone is correct, and you can throw some cultural things in there as well. People just don't spend as much time doing physical, outdoor activities as they once did, and attending regatta's is an expensive time suck. Personally, for me? I don't think I could go back to racing simpler boat like a H16. It's quirky, it's weird, and you need a dick shaking medicine man to understand the voodoo tuning of the boat. I damn near pulled the trigger on that Flying Phantom that was in Wisconsin that Tomko bought. Why? I think it is extremely cool. Why didn't I buy it? Because I need that money to fund a new home for my business, and blowing $50k on a new toy would've set that back substantially. (I'm considering not replacing my boat if I sell it just so I've got another $20k in capital for that as well) I think that foiling will do a couple of things. It will drive away some, it will attract others. Those that aren't interested in the latest bleeding edge boat still have options though. A-Cat, F16, F18, H16, and the basket full of dead boats out there. So the biggest problem there, is that it is diluting the classes, and that is a problem. You fall below critical mass, and your class is done. A-Class, and F18 aren't going anywhere anytime soon, but I think the F16 is still an emerging class. On the flip side, the Moth was dead and gone before the switch to foiling. A bold move that could've finished off the class, but is now flourishing because of that change. Those aren't cheap boats either.
Why is the H16 still the most popular multihull class on the planet!?
Because they are like roadkill. There's one along the side of the road everywhere. Plus, they are cheap(ish) to buy new. I think a new Hobie 16 is around $10k currently. That's way less than half of a new F16/18, even if you get a smokin' deal on one.
Do you really think the one percenters are going to line up for the G4?
What's a G4?
