(Jake. You're so bad.)

New Melges17: $15,000 including painted trailer. Melges.com

Some of the new 17 owners were nice folks who knew they weren't going to look good. So what? Intimidation and the perception of arcane sailing rules keep a lot of newbies from participating and even more from buying a sailboat in the first place.

The trapeze question is one that comes up about the 17 and, I'm only guessing, that the target market owners are tired of traps. Melges was very thoughtful to hit a segment of the market that would be not only moving up from another scow but also those of us who have been beach catted to death. I don't mean that to sound too harsh. I love multihulls but life is short. Do something different for a change. What else is out there with a big rag that can be as much a rush? I can fly a hull but planing is a hoot while seemingly on a ragged edge. 480 sq. ft. on a few sq. ft. of lightweight hull sounds pretty good, too.