Would it be insulting to say that you basically think that the T is kept artifically alive by the olympics?
There is no doubt in my mind that this is the case here in Southern California. All the T sailors here survive on used sails sold by campaigners. It's a very affordable class if you are willing to buy used equipment. None of us would buy a new boat.
However, the last 2 times we've managed to get 2 T skippers together, we could see a fleet of Tigers and Inter/Nacra-20's (carbon mast, BTW) racing in the distance.
The carbon mast is not the reason the T fleets will not be growing, since the Inter-20 has a carbon mast and is a very popular racing boat around here and is selling well. IMHO, the things that make the Tornado a hard sell are the wide beam (making trailering difficult), the cost (double that of a Tiger), and the reputation for being unrightable (although I've seen Gary Friesen right my Tornado *solo* with a righting pole), the fragile gaskets that keep them off the beach, and the wide tacking angle because of the centerboards and wide beam and sloop rig (which make tacking up narrow channels a bit tedious).
I'd not recommend a used Tornado for a novice, though I would recommend a used F-18 Tiger, although I would advise them to leave the bowsprit at home for the first year at least.
Professionalism are making some disturbances in our sport, as you say. And we regular guys are of course not competitive with the pros'.
I don't see how Olympic status would hurt the F-18 class, or the Hobie-16 if it were adopted. The Tornado's problems have nothing to do with that.
But doesn't your 10-12 Marstrøms (and I bet there are other T-designs in SA +neighbouring countries as well) go out racing and have a good time? If they dont, why? Lack of initative, acceptable goals or general apathy?
Here in the US, it's a cultural problem: Americans want to be entertained in their time off more than ever, and are sailing less. Attendence at all regattas (not just Tornado regattas) is down. The Tornado, being the most exclusive class is hit first, but volume is so low the venerable Hobie 18 stopped production and even at Hobie regattas some classes can't get enough boats for a start.
We would love to get enough (4) boats together to get a start at a local "Olympic Classes" regatta, but we haven't been able to get that many boats together yet, and if we do, we know the finish order is likely to be 1994 Marstrom, 1980's sailcraft, 1980's sailcraft, 1971 Panthercraft (with a possible hand-made wooden boat thrown in there), since those are the boats in the region.
The start price in the T is not that bad, considering that it has a crew of two to share the cost.
I have never, ever, ever heard of anyone sharing the purchase price of a boat with their crew (unless they are married). The Price:Performance ratio is definitely important, and you can get almost as much performance for much less money from other boats.
But of course changes like the carbon mast hurts a bit.
IMHO it helps the Tornado. Anyone fanatical enough to buy a Tornado for performance wants all they can get. Anyone campaigning will get a competitive mast at a fixed price and the mast properties will better match their sails. Old boats are not competitive, with or without the new mast.
The price problem comes from the fact that the competitive boats are built using expensive materials, techniques, and tooling that only a single vendor has invested in (and considering the volume, who else would try?), and noone is building noncompetitive boats because there is no market for them.
