I think a lot is up to how good or bad your local dealers are. Hobie1616's experience is way too common unfortunatly.
No kidding! The dealer I did work with is excited about sailing. He knows a lot of guys I sailed with on the mainland so we can swap sailing lies, he's got his own 20 so he's able to give me real world tips, he donates time and materials to the Boy Scouts to promote sailing and he made it very very easy to buy my 20.
