Wayne,

Whilst I don't believe that we should "censor" what we post here, it's very easy for a forum like this to create a misleading impression of the number of problems, as generally people only post when they've got an issue to talk about. Our success as a class is very much tied to the success of the manufacturers supporting it and whilst we should not cover up for bad workmanship or bad service (and as far as I know we don't have any of that in the F16 world) it's worth bearing in mind the overall impression created by discussing the issues in public.

When comparing the price of boats with the price of cars it's worth remembering that cars come from the mass-manufacturing world that we've all become used to. Not only does this give huge economies of scale, but it also allows for far more testing - car manufacturers can afford to write-off more cars in the testing of one model than any manufacturer has ever sold F16s. Buying a catamaran is more like buying a brand new house than buying a car. When buying a new house, a small number of "snagging" issues are expected. The key question is whether the issues are dealt with well. As far as I'm aware, the level of post-sales support from the F16 manufacturers (and importers) is nothing short of excellent.

As far as damage in transit, the issue should definitely be taken up with the carrier, although it somewhat depends on the terms of shipping. There are car body-shops that get a decent proportion of their work from sorting out dings in brand new cars. The reason your brand new car that you collect from the local dealer doesn't have a ding in its fender (is that the wing or the bumper ? <img src="http://www.catsailor.com/forums/images/graemlins/smile.gif" alt="" /> ) may be because it's already been to the body shop...

Paul