The A’s sure have plenty of builders going at it these days. It makes for loads of press releases and PR for the class but I’m not sure it’s the best thing for the class. The down side is that we have so many builders we run the risk of loosing any economy of scale. Assuming a worst case scenario where each of these builders actually gets some market share we will end up with a ton of boats that are essentially one offs. Keep in mind that less than 100 boats are built worldwide every year. All these boats will be priced accordingly (EPENSIVE). Lots of new designs has an upside. It’s just cool to see different design ideas on the same concept. Unfortunately all of these boats are starting to look the same. That is also a double edged sword since similar boats is good for racing. That’s why I am against the hydrofoils.
I suspect most of these new builders are not going to make it. With all the boats looking the same the ones that figure out how to do it cheaper will win out. If Hobie Europe can build a good boat they may have the resources to do it cheaper than everyone else. But will they then try to turn the class into a one design like they appear to be attempting with the F18? Others have tried and failed at that. On the flip side if they can build a competitive A cat for close to ten grand nothing could be better for the class.