Ed:
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<br>Thank you as always for replying to my post and also to you Tami. The J105 or J80 group is really a daysailing group that is looking for a closed class one design that offers simplicity and fun for under $100,000. They just don't make very good cruising boats. The other example I'll give is the Melges 24 group. Here is a $50,000 boat that sold like hot cakes. Fun action at a reasonable price and a class filled with the whose who of sailing.
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<br>Our demographics are actually quite different from what Tami suggests. The average age is just over 50. Their income level is upper income to very high income.
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<br>Let's examine one more class that has seen extraordinary success. The FARR 40. There are as many FARR 40s sailing at Key West Race week as there are sailing at Hobie 20 nationals. FARR saw a need for a tight one design boat that is crewed by less than 20 like the SC70s require and designed a fun around the buoys boat that features the top sailors in the world on a weekly basis.
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<br>Lastly the F31R ($110,000) has outsold every beach catamaran class here in Southern California in the last year.
<br>These guys want to put on a spray suit and rage! They are the beach cat crowd who have gone to the next level.
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<br>Many (almost all) are guys that sailed NACRA 5.8s and Hobie 20s around here for years.
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<br>Again, cost isn't the limiting factor in my view. There is money available if their is a product that meets the consumer's demand for ease of use, quick set up and good racing as well as a dynamic and challenging boat relative to what they have been sailing.
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<br>As always, thank you for your well thought out replies.
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<br>Mark Michaelsen<br><br>Mark Michaelsen
<br>www.sailingproshop.com
<br>(800) 354-7245