Hi John,
You may be right, Australia is not a cheap place to buy stuff from, for us anyway, due to our crap currency.
Differences between the Mosquito and the full F16 boats like Blade or Taipan are minor, but can all add up to increased costs. Hull length is 100mm (4inches) shorter, mast is quite short, only 7,3m compared to the F16`s 8,5m,and is a smaller section. sail area is less : 12,5sqm main (F16 = 15sqm), 3,7sqm jib (=F16), 13sqm spinnaker (F16 = 17,5sqm). Due to the finer shaped hulls with lower bouyancy and the narrow beam (2,185m as opposed to 2,5m F16) the Mosquito won`t really carry much bigger sailplan, and where we sail we seldom need more sail area, sometimes less would be good.
Timbo is right, it is cheaper to build boats here than in US, Aus, or Eu, hence the export of large cats all over the world from SA, but I think the standard of workmanship on these boats is exceptionally high, the boatbuilding industry here is pretty well respected worldwide.
It is strange that we can build boats more cheaply, since we import almost all the raw materials, and pay dollars / euros for them - sailcloth, fibreglass cloth, resins and foam are mostly imported, as is our plywood for any home-built projects.
The Mosquito class association has made good friends with our builder, sailmaker, and other suppliers, by staying with these suppliers and supporting them. The hulls and daggerboards are top quality and built by the most respected small-boat builder in SA, hulls cost around R15 000($2000).Home-built timber hulls will cost around half that. I think daggerboards are around R3 500 ($500)
Masts we had a die made for, and have runs of 30 or so masts made up, held in stock and sold to members at no profit, the association buys directly from the aluminium supplier, so there is no middlemen taking profits. I believe the bare extrusion is around R1 500 ($200). We have to send it for anodising and fit it out with spreaders and all fittings, takes about a day. The cross-beams are rectangular tubing aluminium, also from any aluminium supplier, again you must anodise, cut to length and fit out yourself with mast step, dolphin striker and fittings. Not sure of the cost, I`m guessing bare beams are around R500 ($70) Spi pole is round tubing, buy it in 6m lengths and you have two, one spare, or share the cost with a friend and get one each.
Rudders and stocks can be made yourself, but we have mostly gone with Dotans - again, one sailor imported a set, we liked them, and put in a bulk order with Dotan who gave us a very good price. All we had to do was remove old pintles, fill holes, drill new holes for new pintles, and the Dotans are on ! about a days work, if you stop for beer often (as one does.) cost around R4 500 ($600) They are actually expensive for us, costing around 10% of the total boat cost.
Sails and trampoline - we had North sails do the development of our sails, and put in bulk orders with them, so they give us a better price. We ordered 7 spinnakers in one go, the same applied. I think sails, spinnaker and trampoline come in at R10 000 ($1350).
Spreaders, mast step, dolphin striker are all made by a mast manufacturer and are supplied directly from them, no middlemen. Not sure of the cost, around R800 ($110)
Almost all the fittings are imported, Ronstan mostly as it`s cheaper than Harken. I`m not sure of the costs of fittings, rope etc, but I`m now at around R35 500 excluding those ($5000), you might just get change from R50 000.
If you home-build hulls, daggerboards,rudders and stocks, you could save another R12 000, so you could have a competitive Mosquito for around R40 000 ($5 400).
What we have done is have the class association act as a "Dealer" and securing parts sources for the members at factory-direct prices, but with no intent on making a profit. This business model would not work for Hobie or Nacra, or anyone else, which is why you pay more for catamarans. <img src="http://www.catsailor.com/forums/images/graemlins/wink.gif" alt="" />
Oh yes, and the boat that Miles and Darryn are on in the pic I posted, the one they won the Nationals on - it`s a home-built plywood boat.