I'll add a few more comments on the issue to address some other points.

When I was a kid, my brother and I played sports (Lacrosse, wrestling), but those were not the all time consuming efforts that kids sport have become these days. Even with games and practices there was plenty of Sunday afternoons with the whole family and a packed dinner on the family boat. Nowadays involvement in sports seems to take up more than that - if you're involved in the sports there are skills camps and tournaments and a whole lot more devoted to the idea that each kid is going to be a soccer star. I know of families that spend the whole weekend traveling from one game to another, and then even to games their kids aren't playing in so they watch other teams play and learn from observing. As a new parent I have to admit to worrying about how to balance all that - I think sports involvement is a great thing for kids to learn a lot of life skills through, but there seems to be a loss of balance these days. I want to have Sunday afternoons with the family on the boat and a packed dinner again...

Matt - I was thinking about your comment regarding the kayaks, and that sparked another thought. At the last couple of Annapolis Sailboat Shows, Hobie seems to be more of a kayak company than a sailboat company, even at the sailboat show. The kayaks are out front, the cats are few, and the sales staff seem to have a dismal understanding of the local catamaran scene. It's been very disappointing. However, I must admit I have no idea how many boats they sell from that show. I do know that nobody I know of has shown up to the local clubs saying they just bought a new Hobie and are looking for like minded individuals. But the real reason for me to bring this up for this discussion on boat sales is the realization that, for all the boats I have or have had, the ONLY ones I've bought new were kayaks.

Other folks comments about work hours - I can say that work hours affect my ability to get on the water. Weekends aren't off limits, and the week is rarely only 40 hours. I get 3 weeks of vacation a year, but frequently I lose one of those because I don't get to use it due to delivery deadlines and I can only carry one week over to the new year. I'm not the only one, and this isn't in pursuit of the ultimate corporate prestige job. It's simply doing what's required to get the regular job done, and seems to be becoming the work culture these days.

And water access again - water access is tight, but there are launch areas. But again for the power boat versus sailboat, trailering is much easier with a power boat. Once you get to a size with sailboats that ballast and keels become an issue, you're stuck with putting the boat in a slip. Slips that can handle keelboats with their depth or multis with their width are not cheap. I think this is another reason sailboat sales on the whole are losing to powerboats.